THE 

TRANSFIGURED 

LIFE 



J. H. HYERS 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. 



Oliap Copyright No._ 

Shelf 



UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 




J. H. MYERS 



The Transfigured 
Life 



,.^ ...BY 

Rev. J. H. MYERS, Ph.D. 

Author of " Philosophy of Faith " 



WITH INTRODUCTION 

BY 

ALBERT LEONARD, Ph.D. 

President of the Normal School System of Michigan 
Formerly Dean of the College of Liberal Arts of Syracuse University 



H^ 



New York : Eaton & Mains 
Cincinnati : Jennings & Pye 



39922 



Library of Coriflre,. 

■'wo Copies Received 
AUG 29 1900 

Cofyrfght mtry 

SECOND copy. 

OROtR CMVISJON, 
?^FP 5 IQOn 



S\/isoi 



Copyright, igoo, by 
J. H. MYERS 



74165 



CONTENTS 



POEMS 

Page 
My Favorite Book 5 

The Ideal 12 

Jesus, My Lord 22 

Transfigured 40 

Under His Hand 50 

Trust God 68 

All the Days 82 

The Life More Abundant 92 

He Leadeth 106 

The Song and the Burden 124 

A Farewell 135 

Introduction. 7 



4 The Transfigured Life 

Chapter Page 

I. The Baptism of the Holy Spirit ; or, The Life 

of Privilege 13 

II. The Baptism of the Holy Spirit — How Received ; 

or, The Way of Faith 23 

III. The Transfigured Life 41 

IV. The Transfigured Church — Its Rapid Growth. . . 51 
V. '* I Believe God " 69 

VI. Milk and Honey 83 

VII. A Theory of Knowledge 93 

VIII. Guidance 107 

IX. Exaltation through Service ; or, The Way to be 

Great 126 



MY FAVORITE BOOK 



(Psa. cxix, II.) 



I LOVE thy word, O God, yea, more 
Than all the books of ancient lore ; 
A charm more sweet within its page 
Than wisest lines of modern sage. 
It charms my soul ; my thought intent 
By day and night on thee is bent. 

Not always thus my heart did yearn 

The secrets of thy truth to learn ; 

I found delight in trivial things. 

And sought the taste that culture brings, 

Unaided by the light divine, 

That from thy truth doth ever shine. 

The poet lent his sweetest charm ; 
With classic lore I thought no harm 
To fill the mind. With wise and fair, 
In gay converse, with learned air, 
I loved to talk and spend the day, 
Which slipped, it seemed, so quick away ; 
Or, with the students learned I sat. 
And lectured wise on this and that, 
Of Plato's wisdom, Plautus' wit. 
With here and there a pungent hit 
At modern manners, shams, and rant, 
^'Religious knaves, and pious cant.'' 

The Stoics wise, with learned phrase, 

I'd glibly quote, as latest phase 

Of my belief : in this I sought 

To drown the voice of th' urgent ought, 

That would not down, but up would start. 



My Favorite Book 



Though 'ppressed by music, wisdom, art; 

But ever like a soul within 

My soul, with secret woe and sin 

Distressed, did cry, and cry for pain. 

As if 'twould ne'er be heard again. 

If, unheeded now its wise behest, 

I elsewhere sought for peace and rest 

Than in the word so long forgot, 

And in the Christ I heeded not. 

All this is changed : my heart, made new 
In love of Christ, delights to view 
The path made plain by urgent ought; 
Though rough it seem I shun it not. 
The culture learned from wisdom, art, 
Is useless not, but to my heart 
New meaning hath, a nobler thought 
Than when, alone, the word forgot, 
I sought for peace and found it not. 

My studies in my duty done 
Are sanctified, and through both come 
A nobler life and better plan, 
With love to God and love to man ; 
And, best of all, the word is sweet, 
A lamp to guide my willing feet, 
A charm and comfort in distress, 
A gift my fellow-man to bless. 

I love thy word, O God, yea, more 
Than all the books of ancient lore ; 
A charm more sweet within its page 
Than wisest lines of modern sage. 
It charms my soul ; my thought intent 
By day and night on thee is bent. 



INTRODUCTION 



It is a privilege to write a word of intro- 
duction to a volume the spirit and purpose of 
which will commend it to every believer in the 
transforming power of the religion founded 
by the Lord Jesus Christ. The author of this 
volume is one of those men who are born 
with the power of living in the heart of things. 
His mind penetrates into the inner meaning of 
the teachings of the New Testament, and out 
of the fullness of a life that has been enriched 
by the transforming influence of the Spirit of 
Christ he sets forth in clear and forceful man- 
ner a series of truths which are essential to 
that enlargement, enrichment, and unfolding 
of the spiritual life which constitute a life of 
goodness. 

The author clearly recognizes the truth that 
there is no religion inseparable from life. Life 
and religion are one, and true religion is no 
other way of life than living in accordance 
with the life and teachings of the divine 



8 Introduction 

Master. That personal enrichment which 
ought to be the privilege of every believer in 
the religion of Jesus Christ comes only to him 
whose inward life has been transformed by 
the Holy Spirit, and nowhere are the nature 
and results of this transformation described 
with more directness and power than in the 
pages of this volume. 

The religion of Christ means the enrichment 
and enlargement of life, intellectually as well 
as spiritually. Growth in religion means en- 
trance into new regions of spiritual life, and 
brings new and deeper experiences of the soul, 
deeper knowledge of God, deeper knowledge 
of one's self, and a deeper delight in the things 
that are true and pure and noble. Fullness 
of life in the noblest sense can come only to 
the soul whose spiritual aspirations have been 
transfigured and purified and intensified by 
the Holy Spirit, and it is because of the 
emphasis which this volume puts upon the in- 
fluence of the Spirit of Christ in the enrich- 
ment and enlargement of a man's life that it 
ought to be brought to the attention of all who 
would experience in fullest measure the joys 



Introduction 9 

and usefulness of a transfigured life. He who 
lives the transfigured life lives a life so true, 
so deep, so rich, and so pure that he lifts the 
world toward higher things; and no human 
life can bear its richest fruitage which has not 
known the transforming influence of the 
Spirit of the blessed Master as disclosed in the 
New Testament. 

The greatest power in the world, from the 
human standpoint, is personality, and he who 
would lead others to noble living must keep in 
mind the truth that the greatest stimulus to 
goodness is goodness in others. Christ at- 
tracted others to himself by the evident good- 
ness of his life rather than by his teachings. 
But personality is most potent for good only 
when it is transfigured and regulated by the 
purifying and ennobling influence of the 
Spirit of Christ. The highest joy that can 
come to the human soul is the full, free, and 
noble putting forth of power in behalf of hu- 
manity, and this joy is always greatest when 
the forces of mind and heart have been trans- 
figured by the influences of the Holy Spirit. 

It is the mission of this book to lead as many 



10 Introduction 

as possible to live the transfigured life, and I 
am confident that in giving to the world the 
results of his study of God's word the author 
will exert a far-reaching influence for good in 
the direction of causing others to know the 
larger and richer life which God has in store 
for everyone who undergoes that transfigura- 
tion so clearly and attractively portrayed in 
the pages that follow. 

Albert Leonard. 
Syracuse University. 



THE BAPTISM OF THE HOLY SPIRIT; 
OR, THE LIFE OF PRIVILEGE 



THE IDEAL 



Hold thou fast an Ideal pure, 
High, and holy; keep secure — 

Lofty, perfect, high, and bright. 
Shining with celestial light. 

Leave the lower ; seek the higher ; 
Ever upward still aspire. 

In the highest and the best 
Thou shalt find the sweetest rest. 

Never lower, always higher ! 
Thrill thy soul with heavenly fire ! 

LTpward ! Upward ! Still ascend. 
For the best thy soul contend. 

Rest not in a lower plain, 

When the heights thou may'st attain. 

Heed thy inmost soul's behest : 
Love the highest, seek the best. 



CHAPTER I 

The Baptism of the Holy Spirit; or. The 
Life of Privilege 

''Have ye received the Holy Ghost since 
ye beHeved?'' (xA.cts xix, 2.) This was the 
question Paul asked of the Ephesian converts 
upon his first introduction to them. The Re- 
vised Version says, ''when ye believed." In 
either case two distinct acts or experiences are 
distinguished, namely, believing and receiving 
the Holy Spirit. It is implied that these ex- 
periences might have occurred at about the 
same time. As a matter of fact, however, the 
"baptism w4th the Holy Spirit,'' in the case of 
the Ephesian Church, followed the "believing.'' 
"And when Paul had laid his hands upon 
them, the Holy Ghost came on them" (Acts 
xix, 6). 

Paul evidently considered it an important 
matter that believers should also be baptized 
with the Holy Ghost, and that this experience 
should follow soon after conversion. He evi- 



14 The Transfigured Life 

dently considered this the intent and purpose 
of the Gospel, and as all-important, a neces- 
sary equipment for service in spreading the 
glad news. 

1. This zvas the common experience of the 
early Church. Jesus said to his disciples, 
''Ye shall receive power, after that the Holy 
Ghost is come upon you" (Acts i, 8). 'Tarry 
ye in Jerusalem until endued" (Actsi, 4). 
The disciples were believers; they "tarried" 
(Acts i, 14). The Holy Ghost came upon 
them (Acts ii, 4). They were endued with 
power. Witness Peter's sermon and its re- 
sults, also the subsequent history of the 
Church. There was a marvelous change in 
the disciples and in the power of their utter- 
ances (Acts iv, 8, 13). There was a power 
not of themselves working through them. 
Stephen was a man full of the Holy Ghost, and 
consequently full of "faith and power" (Acts 

vi, 5. 8). ^ 

2. The laity were included in the blessing. 
There was gathered together in that upper 
chamber one hundred and twenty souls, in- 
cluding the apostles and men and women, be- 



The Transfigured Life 15 

lievers all in Jesus, the nucleus of the early 
Church (Acts i, 15; ii, i). They were all 
baptized with the Holy Ghost. 

3. This experience zvas intended for, and 
experienced by, Gentile believers, as zvell as 
Jezvs. Philip went to Samaria and preached 
the word, and many believed. Shortly after- 
ward the apostle sent Peter and John to 
them, deeming it important that they should 
be at once instructed and receive the endue- 
ment of power. Peter and John prayed for 
them, laid hands on them, and they, even 
the despised Samaritans, received the Holy 
Ghost. 

The illuminating power of the Holy Spirit, 
exhibited in the broadening of intellectual and 
spiritual vision, w^as nowhere more manifest 
than in the breaking down of the wall of prej- 
udice in Jewish believers and expanding their 
ideas to the grand scope of the Saviour's plan 
to save all men. That the Gentiles should be 
fellow-sharers of all spiritual blessings in 
Christ was authoritatively settled by the 
apostles in the first great council concerning 
circumcision, God's dealing in the example of 



i6 The Transfigured Life 

Cornelius being cited by Peter as the cdnclu- 
sive argument as to God's purpose to grant 
the Holy Spirit to all believers everywhere 
(Acts XV, 7, 8) : ''Men and brethren, ye know 
how that a good while ago God made choice 
among us, that the Gentiles by my mouth 
should hear the word of the Gospel, and be- 
lieve. And God, which knoweth the hearts, 
bare them witness, giving them the Holy 
Ghost, even as he did unto us.'' 'The Holy 
Ghost fell on them, as on us at the beginning" 
(Acts xi, 15). 

May we not logically conclude from the 
foregoing that the baptism of the Holy Spirit 
was the common experience of the early 
Church; that it was usually experienced sub- 
sequent to, but soon after, conversion; that 
the disciples expected all converts to enjoy 
this blessing as an equipment for future 
service; that they considered this experience 
so important that they sent special messengers 
to give Instruction regarding It to believers 
who had not received such special Instruction; 
that this blessing was extended to the Gentile 
world and to all believers? The Epheslans as 



The Transfigured Life \^ 

soon as they heard gladly received. Have 
you? 

4. Jesiis intends this blessing for ns now, 
"And it shall come to pass in the last days, 
saith God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon 
all flesh: and your sons and your daughters 
shall prophesy" (Joel ii, 28; Acts ii, 17). It 
was God's purpose from the beginning, as de- 
clared in prophecy, to fill his people with his 
Spirit. This purpose began to be realized in 
the closing days of the old dispensation, and in 
the beginning of the new, by the Holy Spirit 
taking possession of every believer in the early 
Church, who by faith claimed the blessing. 
This was, in fact, the inauguration of the new 
dispensation, the dispensation of the Holy 
Ghost. The full realization of this prophetic 
promise awaits only a believing Church. The 
success of the Church has been about in pro- 
portion to its Spirit-filled membership. 

That this blessing is the present privilege 
of believers is forever set at rest by Acts ii, 
38, 39, where Peter expressly declares that the 
blessing is for all: ^'Repent, and be baptized 
every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ 



i8 The Transfigured Life 

for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive 
the gift of the Holy Ghost. For the promise 
is unto you, and to your children, and to all 
that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our 
God shall call." Dear friend, are not we among 
the "far off," the "called" of God? 

What shall we say, then? Is not this ex- 
perience, the baptism of the Holy Spirit, a 
blessed life of privilege? We have tried to 
make each step of the foregoing exposition so 
plain that there can be no possible question as 
to the logic of our conclusions. Must we not 
then conclude that this blessing is the privilege 
of the Church of Christ nozv? And may we 
not then say our privilege? But the Church 
is made up of individuals, you and me. May 
we not logically, then, descend to the individual 
personal pronoun, and dare to write my in- 
stead of our? Nay, must we not do so? We 
cannot retrace our steps without doing vio- 
lence to the word of our Lord and to our own 
reasoning powers. We wall take this ground, 
then, with confidence, from which we will 
never retreat : The baptism of the Holy Spirit 
is my privilege nozv. 



The Transfigured Life 19 

But what God has promised and prepared 
for his children he has a right, has he not? to 
expect of his children. The believer's privi- 
lege in Christ becomes to the obedient disciple 
his duty. But, alas! have we not lived far 
short of our privilege? Can the blessed 
Master do all that he might through us while 
we are not filled w4th his Spirit? ''Be filled 
with the Spirit" (Eph. v, 18). ''Receive ye 
the Holy Ghost" (John xx, 22). This is the 
Master's command to every believer. The 
Church of the first century is not an exception, 
but a sample of what the Church should be in 
every century. 

How many of us present-day Christians 
have been living long years in the cellar of 
Christian experience, catching now and then 
glimpses of radiant glory from the cellar win- 
dow, and rejoicing for a brief space, then 
going back into our dark corners to mope 
among the bats, saying to ourselves, "Yes, it 
is glorious, but, alas! it is not for me." O, 
poor deluded souls! let us up and out of this 
cellar experience, into the sunlight of eternal 
love and truth, where our Lord intended us to 



20 The Transfigured Life 

live! ''Be filled with the Spirit/' Plead your 
privilege in the risen Christ. The cellar for 
the bats and spiders, but God's sunlight for 
his own dear children. Fix deep in the heart 
these unalterable conclusions from God's 
word, and prayerfully ponder them: 

1. The disciples of the early Church, at the 
time of, or subsequent to, their conversion, re- 
ceived a second distinct experience, called 
*'the baptism of the Holy Spirit." 

2. The disciples expected all subsequent 
believers to receive this blessing. 

3. Such an experience is promised in the 
word of God to every believer at the present 
time. 

4. What is promised to God's children he 
has a right to expect of his children. 

Ponder these facts, brood over them, think 
on the word, pray for illumination, until the 
last great truth shall dawn upon you glori- 
ously, namely: 

5. This blessing is for me, now. 



, ( THE LIFE OF ^ 

' K OUR V ] 

( MY ) 



— Acts ii, 39. 



i 



THE BAPTISM OF THE HOLY SPIRIT — 

HOW RECEIVED ; OR, THE 

WAY OF FAITH 



JESUS, MY LORD 



Jesus is Lord, he is my King; 

He saves me by his grace ; 
How sweet to him my wants to bring, 

And trust in every place ! 

I feel his presence in my heart, 
How dear that presence is ! 

I know my Lord will ne'er depart. 
His care he constant gives. 

My Lord, my God, my King, to thee 

Myself, my all, I give ; 
Emptied of self I'd ever be, 

And only in thee live. 

I own thee Lord, and Guide of life : 
Where'er thou lead'st I'll go; 

In restful ease, or conflict rife. 
No other will I'll know. 



CHAPTER II 

The Baptism of the Holy Spirit — How 
Received; or. The Way of Faith 

''He breathed on them, and saith unto them, 
Receive ye the Holy Ghost" (John xx, 22), 
It is the glory of God to give; it is the crown- 
ing glory of man in humility, but with faith, 
to receive. ''What hast thou that thou didst 
not receive? now if thou didst receive it, why 
dost thou glory, as if thou hadst not received 
it?" (i Cor. iv, 7.) Surely all boasting on 
our part is excluded. "All things" come of 
him ; but the crowning gift, through the cross 
and the resurrection, is the gift of the Holy 
Ghost. 

Having settled it once for all that the bap- 
tism of the Holy Spirit is the privilege of 
every believer at the present time, we inquire, 
How is the blessing received? We answer, 
By faith, just as we received the blessing of 
forgiveness. We cannot buy the blessing; 
we cannot claim it or merit it by any right 
whatever, other than through the promise of 



24 The Transfigured Life 

Jesus, based upon his merit, as manifest in his 
sacrifice. 

But there are certain conditions to be ful- 
filled on our part. There are certain steps 
for us to take in the way of faith. While 
this blessing is intended for all, it is not re- 
ceived by all, because they do not on their part 
fulfill the conditions. This blessing is not for 
the rebellious and unconverted. It is not for 
self-willed believers, nor for those who love 
some secret sin more than they love God. 
There are electric lamps in our church, there 
is an electric plant in town, but there is no 
light. Why? The connection is broken; the 
wires are befouled or grounded, or there is 
some defect in the lamp. The lamps must first 
be set to rights, then the connection must be 
made by a human will, then comes light to the 
full capacity of the lamps. Now let us take 
the steps in 

THE WAY OF FAITH. 

Let us be logically clear, and then fail not 
to take the blessing that our Father is holding 
out to every believer. "Receive ye." "The 
promise is unto you" (Acts ii, 39). We think 



The Transfigured Life 25 

that every believer is led up to this blessing 
soon after conversion, and his subsequent suc- 
cess and usefulness in Christian living depend 
upon his reception or rejection of it. The 
Ephesian Church, as we have seen, received 
the blessing as soon as they heard of their 
great privilege by the mouth of Paul. Have 
we as readily entered every open door to which 
God has led us in our experience? Paul re- 
ceived the Holy Spirit three days after his con- 
version, when Ananias laid his hands upon 
him. ^^The Lord hath sent me," said Ananias, 
''that thou mightest receive thy sight, and be 
filled with the Holy Ghost'' (Acts ix, 17). 
What hinders the reader of these words to 
receive him now? 'There is no respect of 
persons with God." 

How shall I receive him? 

I. Repent. The Holy Spirit is ready to 
enter every heart; he cannot because of hin- 
drances there. He warns and admonishes, 
but he cannot enter, to fill, to comfort, to pos- 
sess, to endue with power for service, where 
sin is entertained and loved. "Then Peter 
said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every 



26 The Transfigured Life 

one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the 
remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift 
of the Holy Ghost. For the promise is unto 
you" (Acts ii, 38, 39). Peter evidently in- 
tended that a genuine repentance and forgive- 
ness of sins should precede the baptism of the 
Holy Spirit. He does not say how long. 
The language implies that it might be imme- 
diately. With Paul it was three days after 
his conversion (Acts ix, 17). In the case of 
the Samaritans it was some days after (Acts 
viii, 14-17). With Cornelius it followed im- 
mediately (Acts X, 44). With you, dear 
friend, how long? 

There is need of repentance in believers. 
Perhaps their repentance was complete so far 
as they knew at conversion, but new light re- 
veals depths in the soul that need cleansing 
power. There are lurking hindrances. Bring 
them all to the light and to the altar. Our 
fathers and grandfathers used to read a book 
called Wesley's Sermons, It would be time 
well spent for their sons and grandsons to 
read Sermon No. 14, entitled ''The Repent- 
ance of Believers.'' 



The Transfigured Life 27 

We need to do as the Israelites did before 
the passover. They searched the house diH- 
gently for leaven, and cast out the last par- 
ticle that might be found, and thoroughly 
cleansed their dwelling. Then they pro- 
nounced a curse on any possible speck of 
leaven that might have been overlooked or re- 
mained hidden in spite of their utmost vigi- 
lance. So we as believers need to go over 
again thoroughly the ground of our consecra- 
tion, to reach the innermost recess of our 
hearts for the last bit of leaven of sin that may 
abide there. And when we discover it cast it 
out, or if we feel our inability to deal with it, 
bring it and lay it at Jesus's feet; forever re- 
nounce it, and let him deal with it. He is 
able. 

Having done this with all that is known, 
then, like the devout Israelite of old, pro- 
nounce, in God's name, your solemn curse 
upon all the unknown sin that may have es- 
caped your vigilance, and all that the future 
may bring to light. Leave it then with God, 
and have done with it forever. The act of 
renunciation is yours. The matter is then in 



2 8 The Transfigured Life 

God's hands, and he will deal with it. He is 
able. Afflict yourself no more with it. It is 
no longer yours ; it is his. Let it alone. Now 
prepare your house for the coming guest. 

By an act of dedication on your part say, 
''O God, come in to thine own house. This 
body, this spirit, this soul of mine are thine 
wholly and forever. Come in, fill, possess thine 
own forever." 

2. Obey, "And we are witnesses of these 
things," says Peter; ''and so is also the Holy 
Ghost, whom God hath given to them that 
obey him" (Acts v, 32). The pathway of 
obedience brings even to human eyes glimpses 
of the supernatural. The women, bearing 
precious spices to anoint the dead body of Je- 
sus, found not a closed tomb, but an open and 
empty sepulcher, and, moreover, saw angels, 
who said to them, ''Go, tell his disciples" 
(Matt, xxviii, 7-10). They did not tarry to 
enter into an argument with the angels, as we 
may well imagine a modern philosopher as 
doing, nor did they stop to make a scientific 
investigation, neither did they wait to chip off 
a piece of the rock as a souvenir. They 



The Transfigured Life 29 

simply did as they were told. They obeyed. 
And what followed? Why, as they went on 
this simple errand Jesus met them. The path- 
way of obedience brings the vision of Jesus. 

The disciples likewise went by faith to the 
appointed place in Galilee, as Jesus command- 
ed them, and there they received that glorious 
vision of their risen Lord, and new and ex- 
alted conceptions of his kingdom, in the great 
commission, ''All power is given unto me; 
therefore, go, disciple, baptize, teach.'' And 
in proportion as God's people have obeyed this 
last command, in that measure they have real- 
ized the divine power resting on them, and the 
continued Presence, ''Lo, I am with you 
alway." 

The disciples tarried at Jerusalem as Jesus 
commanded them. They waited, prayed, ex- 
pected, believed, and received the baptism of 
the Holy Spirit. These were the simple and 
easy steps from the empty tomb to Pentecost. 

Obedience implies the surrendered zvilL 
Perfect obedience comes through perfect sur- 
render. This was what made Abraham great. 
Where God called he went without debate. It 



30 The Transfigured Life 

was enough to know that God called, and no 
more. A good soldier does not debate his 
orders with his commander. It is safe to 
trust the orders from our Commander. He is 
looking for willing volunteers. The collapse 
of self is the beginning of the life of power. 
The Spirit will not dwell in a rebellious and 
self-willed soul. 

The surrendered will implies the acknowl- 
edgment of God's sovereignty and his law as 
the governing rule of life. There must be on 
our part a transference of the governing power 
from self over to Christ before the Spirit can 
take full possession. Some are willing to 
acknowledge Christ as Saviour in a kind of 
general, indefinite way, and stop there, forget- 
ting that if salvation is complete we must also 
acknowledge him as Lord of life. We place 
him upon the throne of our being, and take his 
will, his laws, his commands as the rule of con- 
duct to the last detail. Then his Spirit posses- 
ses us fully. O, come with me, dear heart, 
and crown him Lord of all in your individual 
life. You shall have the vision of "J^^^^ 
himself." His reward is with him to- give to 



The Transfigured Life 31 

them that follow him fully. ''But my servant 
Caleb, because he had another spirit with him, 
and hath followed me fully, him will I bring 
into the land whereinto he went; and his seed 
shall possess if (Num. xiv, 24). 

3. Ask. ''Ye have not, because ye ask not" 
(James iv, 2). Alas, how many well-mean- 
ing people stop at this point. They say, "O 
yes, this is all very beautiful, but not for me; 
perhaps for Brother A, or Sister So and So, 
but not for me." And thus many of us fail 
to put in a claim for that which is rightfully 
ours. "But will God hear my cry?" Yes, 
if it is according to his will. "This is the 
confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask 
anything according to his will, he heareth us" 
(i John V, 14). But is the baptism of the 
Holy Spirit according to his will? Listen: 
"If ye then, being evil, know how to give good 
gifts unto your children, how much more shall 
your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to 
them that ask him?" (Luke xi, 13.) Then 
my prayer is according to his will, for he has 
prepared this blessing for me, and desires to 
give it to me. 



32 The Transfigured Life 

4. Believe. Belieive this unalterable word 
of God. My prayer is according to his will. 
He does hear me. I am longing for him to 
come in. Hear him again : ''Blessed are they 
which do hunger and thirst after righteousness : 
for they shall be filled." Then I will confi- 
dently expect. My look is Godward. My ex- 
pectation is of thee. I wait, Lord, before 
thee. Let no doubt linger near. Lord, I 
will, I do believe thy word. What more shall 
I do? There is nothing more to do. Quit 
all works. ''Not of w^orks, lest any man should 
boast" (Eph. ii, 9). Cease struggling and 
looking at self any more at all; rest down on 
the word, and just simply believe. Ah, how 
restful, how sweet ! ^'In whom also, after that 
ye believed, ye were sealed with that Holy 
Spirit of promise" (Eph. 1, 13). "This only 
would I learn of you, Received ye the Spirit 
by the works of the law, or by the hearing 
of faith?" "That the blessing of Abraham 
might come on the Gentiles through Jesus 
Christ; that we might receive the promise of 
the Spirit through faith" (Gal. iii, 2, 14). 

Received by faith. Yes, there is no other 



The Transfigured Life 33 

way. What remains then for me to do but 
to — 

5. Take, I am looking for the Holy Spirit. 
I am asking him to come in. My request is 
according to God's will. My look is unto him. 
He is anxious that I should have this blessing. 
What follows? Why, I have. ''And if we 
know that he hear us, whatsoever we ask, we 
know that we have the petitions that we de- 
sired of him'' (i John v, 15). 

'T will consider then that from this moment 
I have the blessing?" Yes. ''But I feel 
nothing." Never mind feeling. Believe 
God's word. This is not the way of feeling. 
It is the way of faith. The word has little to 
say about feeling, but much about faith. God 
will give joy in due season in the pathway of 
obedience — joy, more perhaps than you can 
contain — ^but that is his part; leave it to him; 
do you obey, and believe. 

Here is the promised gift in the outstretched 
hand of the Father. Here is the outstretched 
hand of the asking child. What is left? 
A.gain we say, only to take. The last supreme 
act of faith is the simple act of taking. Is 



34 The Transfigured Life 

not this chain of faith forged in the eternal 
heat of God's truth? ''Receive ye." This 
appropriating of omnipotence by God's chil- 
dren delights the heart of the Father. Phi- 
losophy may laugh at it, but the soul which ex- 
periences it can say with John, ''We know" 
(i John v). 

Note the sublime paradox of faith in its 
mighty appropriating power in Mark xi, 24. 
''All things whatsoever ye pray and ask for, 
believe that ye have received them, and ye shall 
have them" (Revised Version). "Believe 
that ye have received, and ye shall have." 
There is something so simple and restful about 
this, something that we are all able to do, pre- 
cluding all struggle or anxiety on our part. Is 
not the Church suffering for lack of this abil- 
ity, or rather from its unwillingness to take 
the Father's blessing? Alas! how many pray 
earnestly, and come up to just this point, and 
stop. They do not take the blessing. 

A Christian woman had been earnestly seek- 
ing this blessing. Her pastor had tried to 
show her the way of faith. One day she in- 
vited him to tea. He asked her for a cup of 



The Transfigured Life 35 

tea. She held it out to him. He still persist- 
ed in repeatedly asking for a cup of tea, while 
the cup was still held out to him. Much per- 
plexed, the good sister at last exclaimed in 

astonishment, ''Why, Mr. ^, what do 

you mean? You asked me for a cup of tea 
and I am holding it out to you ; why don't you 
take it?" ''My good sister/' said her guest, 
"don't you understand? You have been ask- 
ing God for his Holy Spirit, and he is all the 
time holding out the blessing to you." "O, 
I see," she cried, as a flood of light swept over 
her, and she entered into a new and blessed 
experience through the simplicity of faith. 
"Receive ye." 

Friend, if with great care and sacrifice you 
had prepared a beautiful and most useful gift 
for your best friend, how would you feel if 
your friend should spurn the gift, or simply 
neglect it, neither take it nor thank you for 
it? "O, but," you say, "that would be im- 
possible; he would surely take it, for I know 
him and he knows me. I cannot conceive of 
his neglect." Is it not the most natural thing 
for the obedient and loving child to take the 



36 The Transfigured Life 

gift of loving sacrifice and toil from the father 
or mother? They understand each other. 
Even so, and will not you receive the baptism 
of the Holy Spirit? At what pains and cost 
has our loving Father prepared this gift for 
us ! Shall we be ingrates ? Do we not under- 
stand our Father? 

A Christian dreamed that he died and went 
to heaven. An angel conducted him through 
the palace beautiful. In one room there were 
a great number of packages, all neatly arranged. 
On examination he discovered that each pack- 
age bore his name and address. ^^What does 
all this mean?" he said. ''These/' said the 
angel, ''are answers to your prayers. You 
prayed for these things. They were sent by a 
special messenger to your door, but as no one 
came to the door to take them they had to be 
returned." How many blessings God's own 
people lose by simply failing to take that which 
a loving Father holds out to them. 

The Lord told Joshua to lead Israel across 
Jordan into Canaan, declaring that the land 
was theirs, and that he had already given it to 
them, and had prepared the way before them. 



The Transfigured Life 37 

Yet the enemy was still in the land, and Jordan 
at flood tide rolled between. Nevertheless 
Joshua believed the naked promise of God. 
With no outward evidence of a prepared way 
Joshua commanded the priests to take up the 
ark and to go into Jordan, and he commanded 
the people to follow. God had promised, but 
there was required on the part of Joshua and 
of Israel the last step, the step of faith, right 
out into the water. And what followed? 
Why, as soon as the soles of the feet of the 
priests bearing the ark touched the brim of the 
water, then it divided hither and yon, and they 
passed through dry-shod (Josh, lii, 15). Dare 
to say from this moment, '1 have the blessing." 
Take the last step of faith. God has gone be- 
fore and prepared the way. 
• We will remember not to seek this blessing 
for any selfish purpose. We will not make the 
mistake of Simon (Acts viii, 9-23), but we 
seek it, we claim it, we have him, the indwell- 
ing Holy Spirit, now, and from henceforth, 
always, for God's glory and his glory only. 



38 The Transfigured Life 

the way of faith. 

1. Repent, Acts ii, 38. 

2. Obey, Acts v, 32. 

3. Ask. James iv, 2; Luke xi, 13. 

4. Believe. Gal. iii, 2, 14. 

5. Receive. 1 John v, 15; Mark xi, 24. 



THE TRANSFIGURED LIFE 



TRANSFIGURED 



Into thy likeness change me, Lord, 
For man's frail strength thy might afford; 
In place of bondage freedom give, 
Henceforth alone in thee I live. 

Take thou the rule within my heart, 
Bid all things else from thence depart; 
Make thou within my soul thy throne, 
Reign thou within henceforth alone. 

I place the crown upon thy brow, 
In joyous love before thee bow; 
Emptied of self, of thee possessed, 
My soul in sweetness claims its rest. 

I rest, I sing, I labor on. 
In strength not mine the victory's won ; 
The promised power is freely given. 
Through man doth shine the light of heaven. 

From rule of self forever free, 

Into thy likeness changed I'd be; 

Thy Spirit, Lord, my being fill, 

Work thou through me thine own sweet will. 



CHAPTER III 
The Transfigured Life 

In no case has the power of the Holy Spirit 
upon men been more manifest than in its ef- 
fects upon the early Church. So great and 
marvelous were the effects manifest to men 
that nothing less than the sublime word trans- 
figured can be used to describe it. Even as 
Jesus was transfigured before his disciples, 
even so men were transfigured in the sight of 
men when the Holy Spirit came upon them. 

Before this event they were as other men 
were. After this they were different, and so 
markedly different that even their enemies de- 
clared that the disciples had caught the spirit 
of that same Jesus whom they had killed, and 
acted like that same Jesus whom they had 
crucified; and they became alarmed, because, 
while they had killed but one Jesus, they now 
had in their midst hundreds of copies of that 
same Jesus, fired wath intense zeal and enthu- 
siasm, with the same sublime spirit, self-forget- 



42 The Transfigured Life 

fulness, meekness, persistence, and love, 
spreading everywhere the doctrine they had 
nailed to the cross and thought was securely 
buried in Joseph's tomb. It was indeed a 
transHgiired Church, 'They took knowledge 
of them, that they had been with Jesus'' 
(Acts iv, 13). 

This marvelous transformation was es- 
pecially manifest in two directions : first, in a 
personal change and transformation of in- 
dividual character; second, in the amazing 
growth of the early Church in numbers, power, 
and influence. 

The personality of the disciples was the 
same, yet amazingly different — the same per- 
sons, the same minds, the same bodies, but 
with a different spirit, and with such a super- 
natural, inexplicable, awe-inspiring power 
about them that even their enemies stood 
astonished before it. This was manifest — 

I. In their boldness. "When they saw the 
boldness of Peter and John, . , . they took 
knowledge of them, that they had been with 
Jesus." Before they had been timid, hesita- 
ting, doubtful. They ran away and left Je- 



The Transfigured Life 43 

sus when he was betrayed. They dared offer 
no testimony in his defense at his trial, no 
protest against the injustice of the prosecution. 
Now they openly declare that those who cruci- 
fied Jesus are blood-guilty; and they further- 
more declare with sublime assurance that Je- 
sus is alive. They preach the resurrection 
with supreme confidence, and press home the 
sins of the people upon their consciences till 
they are pricked in the heart. They preach 
with confidence the necessity of repentance 
even to self-satisfied Pharisees. 

And this they do not vindictively, but in 
love. In no way is the transfiguration more 
manifest than in this spirit of love in which 
these startling, thrilling utterances are sent 
forth. Their boldness is a moral, spiritual 
boldness, begotten of a sublime, unswerving 
confidence in the right ; and this is as far as the 
north is from the south from that mere bravery 
and bluster which Peter ejKhibited when he 
drew the sword and cut off the servant's ear in 
the garden. With what supernatural courage 
and true boldness Jesus rebuked this earth 
bluster when with loving hand he healed the 



44 The Transfigured Life 

wound and ordered the svv^ord returned to its 
scabbard! Now the transfigured Peter has 
lost his earth bkister, his sword bravery, but he 
exhibits a hke supernatural courage, bathed 
in love, when he stands before the high officials 
of the Sanhedrin with John and declares, 
''Whether it be right in the sight of God to 
hearken unto you more than unto God, judge 
ye. For we cannot but speak the things which 
we have seen and heard'' (Acts iv, 19, 20). 
''We cannot but speak." Again, "We ought 
to obey God rather than men" (Acts v, 29). 
This is the boldness of heaven. This is the 
calm, cool, sweet courage of Jesus, born of a 
consciousness of divine power within and back 
of and upholding the speaker. The representa- 
tive of the Almighty should exhibit loving 
boldness. 

2. A marvelous quickening of intellectual 
power and spiritual vision. Their memories 
were quickened. Jesus's promise that when 
the Holy Ghost should come he should bring 
things to their remembrance was fulfilled. 
They remembered his words and saw their 
spiritual meaning, and began to comprehend 



The Transfigured Life 45 

their world-wide significance. And circum- 
stances as they opened before them revealed 
still more the wide scope of Jesus's plan, as 
doors were opened here and there into the great 
Gentile world about them. 

In the light of this inward illumination the 
Old Testament became a new book to them. 
The risen Jesus, and afterward the Holy Spirit, 
opened to them the Scriptures, and their hearts 
burned within them with new light and joy, as 
the new light from the cross broke upon the old 
Scriptures. They see Jesus as the Christ now, 
foretold, revealed, typified, prepared for in 
every page of Old Testament story. Their 
preaching was scriptural. They preached the 
word, and the Spirit who inspired that same 
word applied it with power to the hearts of men. 
Note how Peter's sermon (Acts ii) and 
Stephen's sermon (Acts vii) are in every point 
based on Old Testament Scripture, and largely 
made up of that Scripture, but how the Spirit 
sent this older Scripture, this sword of his, to 
the hearts of the hearers! Preachers to-day 
would do well to heed this example: first, be 
filled with the Spirit; then, preach the word — 



46 The Transfigured Life 

not our word, but God's word — asking the 
same Spirit, who inspired that word, to apply 
it to the hearts of our hearers. Would not more 
be cut to the heart than are if we so preached ? 
And have we not the added advantage of a 
complete Bible, the New Testament with the 
Old? 

3. Supreme sacrifice — nothing kept back; 
love of Christ above love of property ; religious 
life on top, world life under. What a trans- 
formation! Life itself at Jesus's disposal — 
formerly running away to save life; now, 
courting death, if need be, to help God's work — 
property, life, all at the disposal of the risen 
Christ! Surely they had been with Jesus. 
Surely his Spirit now possessed them. No 
wonder the world marveled. It had not seen 
the like in many a day. And still at the present 
day the world wonders when a man acts like his 
Lord. Why should it be so strange a thing 
that a Christian should act like Jesus ? He had 
but one business : to do his Father's will, to es- 
tablish his kingdom. The disciples had but one 
business : to do as Jesus did. 

The name Christian soon attached itself to 



The Transfigured Life 47 

these people, and it meant the introduction into 
the world of a new conception of moral char- 
acter and life. They were Christ-men, Messiah- 
men, anointed men — thus, in a sense, super- 
natural men, because possessed and actuated by 
divine power, and controlled and guided by 
that power in action and in life. 

4. Love appeared as the controlling princi- 
ple, the outward manifestation of the inner 
spirit. Not the selfish greed of gain, which 
had before controlled them in their individual 
occupations — not money, but Christ, was Lord 
of life. They left all for Jesus, yet no one 
suffered want. 

5. A strange supernatural pozver seemed to 
accompany them in their work. Jesus said, 
''Ye shall receive power, after that the Holy 
Ghost is come upon you : and ye shall be wit- 
nesses unto me" (Acts i, 8). And so they 
went forth here, there, everywhere, and a divine 
influence seemed to surround them and go 
forth from them. It manifested itself in mar- 
velous utterances as if from the mouth of God 
himself, and in conviction in the hearts of 
hearers and in immediate reformation of life. 



48 The Transfigured Life 

in healing power also upon bodies — in acts of 
love and mercy and helpfulness everywhere. 
And this power was accompanied by a sweet 
humility which itself spoke of its heavenly ori- 
gin. ''Why look ye so earnestly on us, as 
though by our own power or holiness we had 
made this man to walk?" (Acts iii, 12.) The 
selfish principle in life was out of sight, and 
Christ was everywhere exhibited. 

6. A szveet and restful confidence born of 
heaven was the background of all these mani- 
festations of the indwelling Holy Spirit. The 
''Lo, I am with you'' of Jesus was verified. 
With joy they took persecution, suffering loss 
of goods, even life itself, for thus they shared 
with Jesus in his gigantic task of saving men. 
What was the secret of their transfigured lives, 
their loving boldness, their self-forgetfulness, 
their loss of all, their unwearying sympathy, 
their service of love, their marvelous spiritual 
insight, and their power of expression? The 
Christ enthroned within — his Spirit possessing 
his temple. Can such things be now ? With- 
out doubt. This is what the Master expects of 
us. ''The promise is unto you." 



THE TRANSFIGURED CHURCH- 
ITS RAPID GROWTH 



UNDER HIS HAND 



(Ezra vii, 28; viii, 22.) 

Grant, Lord, thy hand to be upon us ; 

Under that hand we trust ; 
Show us the way through a land of danger 

To our blest home of rest. 

Protect and keep from harm thy people ; 

Hear thou our cry, we pray ; 
We claim thy guidance, thy care forever, 

Through night and through the day. 

Called from the world thy word to carry, 

And this alone our aim. 
Through hostile lands we march to Canaan, 

But victory we claim. 

The work is great, the burden heavy, 

But thou art still our aid ; 
We rest in thee, we have thy Presence, 

And we are not afraid. 

We look to thee, lift up thy standard, 

True soldiers all are we ; 
We claim thy grace, thy might, thy wisdom, 

Our watchword "Victory." 



CHAPTER IV 

The Transfigured Church — Its Rapid 
Growth 

The power of the Holy Spirit possessing 
fully the professed followers of Christ is strik- 
ingly manifest not only in the transfigured lives 
of individuals, but in the rapid numerical 
growth of the early Church, and in the manner 
in which this result was accomplished. 

There were one hundred and twenty persons 
who tarried in the upper room at Jerusalem till 
the Holy Spirit came (Acts i, 15). Now turn 
to the book of Acts and mark with red ink the 
following passages. Then go back over them 
and study them frequently, till your soul catches 
the sublime conception of the early Church, and 
your mind and whole life are on fire with the 
same burning zeal of the one hundred and 
twenty, who simply did as Jesus told them to 
do, and received the Holy Ghost. 

Begin with i, 15, already cited; turn the page 
to ii, 41 : "The same day there were added unto 



52 The Transfigured Life 

them about three thousand souls." The Spirit- 
filled Church does not rest in its rocking-chair 
selfishly enjoying the great blessings from 
God's hand. No, it is most actively engaged 
in work to save others, and God honors the ef- 
forts and gives the youthful Church new les- 
sons in addition every day. Not only the large 
addition under Peter's sermon, but small ad- 
ditions every day, aggregating in a little while 
large numbers, under the faithful work of each 
individual member and all the members, attest 
the zeal of the unnamed laity as well as the 
leaders. Notice, ii, 47, with what full-hearted 
joy and gladness they did the work, and with 
what marked results : ''Praising God, and hav- 
ing favor with all the people. And the Lord 
added to the church daily such as should be 
saved." Nothing so fills a soul with praise as 
the privilege of bringing another soul to Christ. 
No church is so filled with praise as the church 
at whose altar souls are daily born again. No 
church has so little trouble with its routine of 
administration as the church which is adding 
souls daily to the kingdom of Christ. 

Again, in iv, 4, we read, ''The number of the 



The Transfigured Life 53 

men was about five thousand." A definite one 
hundred and twenty to begin with, now so rapid 
has been the growth that there is simply a rough 
estimate of numbers, ''about five thousand," and 
men only are counted. Estimating the prob- 
able number of women and children believers, 
the number could easily be put at fifteen thou- 
sand, and this soon after Peter's sermon. 

Again, in v, 14, we read, ''And believers were 
the more added to the Lord, multitudes both of 
men and women." The lessons in addition 
have followed each other so rapidly that the be- 
wildered historian could hardly take the time 
for accurate enumeration, but contents himself 
with a comprehensive expression, with two ad- 
ditional words of intensive meaning: ''more 
added, multitudes both of men and women." 
And this is accomplished not by great sermons, 
but by the daily work of individual members, 
whose transfigured lives and inspired testi- 
monies are irresistible. 

But the youthful Church soon passes out of 
addition into multiplication. Notice vi, i, 
"And in those days, when the number of the 
disciples was multiplied." 



54 The Transfigured Life 

With such rapid growth it is not strange 
that some difficulties in administration arose. 
It may be of advantage for members of our 
churches, and of official boards in particular, at 
the present time, to pause a moment to discover 
if possible how the Spirit-filled Church man- 
aged difficulties of administration. 

''And in those days, when the number of the 
disciples was multiplied, there arose a murmur- 
ing of the Grecians against the Hebrews, be- 
cause their widows were neglected in the daily 
ministration. Then the twelve called the mul- 
titude of the disciples unto them, and said, It 
is not reason that we should leave the word of 
God, and serve tables. Wherefore, brethren, 
look ye out among you seven men of honest 
report, full of the Holy Ghost and wisdom, 
whom we may appoint over this business. . . . 
And the saying pleased the whole multitude: 
and they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and 
of the Holy Ghost. . . . And Stephen, full of 
faith and power, did great wonders and mira- 
cles among the people" (vi, i-8). 

Complaint arises as to partiality in the care 
of the needy, evidently not intentional, but 



The Transfigured Life 55 

from pressure of care on the apostles, from the 
multipHed duties arising from the rapid in- 
crease of beUevers. The Church is called to- 
gether by the apostles and requested to elect 
seven men to have the oversight of those need- 
ing assistance, and to administer funds and 
supplies contributed for their relief. Three 
qualifications are specified by the apostles, hon- 
est, full of the Holy Ghost, wise. ''They chose 
Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy 
Ghost.'' It was considered an essential quali- 
fication for this office that the incumbent should 
be filled with the Holy Ghost. It was evident 
that the thought was prominent In the minds 
of the members of the early Church, who cast 
their ballots for these officers, that a Spirit- 
ailed man was needed to administer the secular 
affairs of the chnrch. Would not the present- 
day church do well to heed this example? 
Should not elders, deacons, class leaders, stew- 
ards, and even trustees be men full of the Holy 
Ghost? 

"He IS an honest man, and has good business 
ability and considerable influence in the com- 
munity; let us elect him trustee/' 



$6 The Transfigured Life 

''Is he a man full of the Holy Ghost?'' 

''O, I don't know as to that; that don't mat- 
ter so much, you know; he has mfluence." 

'' Jhey chose Stephen, a man full of faith and 
of the Holy Ghost." 

Is it strange that churches languish spiritu- 
ally, are devoid of revival power, barely hold 
their own, when the officiary, who are to ad- 
minister their affairs, lack the one qualification 
deemed essential by the early Church — ''full of 
the Holy Ghost?" 

And this deacon, this server of tables, "did 
great wonders and miracles among the people," 
and spake with such wisdom that the wisest 
logicians could not answer his arguments, but 
had to resort to stones to silence him. But God 
honored this Spirit-filled server of tables with 
the first diadem of martyrdom, and a vision of 
opened heavens and the exalted Christ at the 
right hand of God, rising from his throne to 
receive him to glory. 

This incident of administration being settled, 
the Church takes another long step forward in 
its rapid expansion : "And the word of God in- 
creased ; and the number of the disciples multi- 



The Transfigured Life 57 

plied in Jerusalem greatly: and a great com- 
pany of the priests were obedient to the faith" 
(Acts vi, 7). Note the language: the church 
was not only multiplied, but so rapidly that the 
historian with one nervous expression with an 
added intensive must say, ''multiplied greatly/' 
A peculiar feature of expansion also, now to be 
noted, is that ''a great company of the priests 
are obedient to the faith." This is certainly a 
great transformation : the priest, conservative, 
stubborn, jealous, hedged round by prejudice, 
at last yields to the mighty power of a Spirit- 
filled people proclaiming the truth of the resur- 
rection and Messiahship of Jesus — the priests 
at last. 

It is important to notice how large a place 
Spirit-filled laymen fill in the rapid expansion 
of the early Church. The apostles themselves 
were laymen, called by Jesus from their daily 
occupations. But after Pentecost, filled with 
the Spirit, they seem as if moved by the right 
hand of the Almighty, and now they are ex- 
alted to sit upon twelve thrones and to lead the 
new Church to its world conquest. They have 
now become the true priesthood, because filled 



58 The Transfigured Life 

with the divine Presence. This is the new 
order, which is to take the place of the old so 
soon to pass away. 

The seven deacons are chosen by the congre- 
gation from their own number. But God im- 
mediately honors them, and himself exalts them 
to be ministers of the word as well as of secular 
affairs. Samaria (Acts viii, 5) receives the 
word at the mouth of Philip. Peter and John 
are sent to complete the organization of the new 
church. The Ethiopian is led to Christ by this 
same Philip, and carries the light to unknown 
lands. Traveling laymen proclaim the glad 
news in Antioch. Converts are gathered, and 
Barnabas is sent to organize a church, which 
becomes the first great missionary church, 
sending forth Paul and Barnabas to the Gentile 
world (Acts xi, 20-24; xiii, 1-3). 

And how was all this accomplished? By 
Spirit-filled laymen going about proclaiming 
everywhere the Messiahship and resurrection 
of Jesus, while the apostles remained at Jeru- 
salem. "And they were all scattered abroad 
throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, 
except the apostles. . . . They that were scat- 



The Transfigured Life 59 

tered abroad went everywhere talking the 
word'' (Acts viii, 1-4). This persecution, be- 
gun by the death of Stephen, instead of putting 
out the fire, causes it to spread everywhere. 
Samaria is now ablaze with the new truth 
(Acts viii, 14). 

Persecution ceases for a time, but the Church 
is still expanding, not only by addition, but so 
rapidly that the sacred writer still thinks of it 
as multiplication. 'Then had the churches 
rest throughout all Judea and Galilee and Sa- 
maria, and were edified; and walking in the 
fear of the Lord, and in the comfort of the 
Holy Ghost, were multiplied'' (Acts ix, 31). 

The Jewish authorities, thoroughly alarmed, 
attempt to stay this marvelous progress of 
the new Church by the arrest and imprisonment 
of Peter, but in vain. Peter, with angel guid- 
ance, walks through bolted gates of iron to 
freedom and renewed service, and the tide, 
stayed for a moment, takes new impetus. 
"But the word of God grew and multiplied" 
(Acts xii, 24). 

Paul and Barnabas start forth on their re- 
markable mission, first to the Jews and then to 



6o The Transfigured Life 

the Gentile world, but not without difficulty. 
Spirit guidance insures victory, but does not 
promise an easy road to success. No bed of 
roses for these men. They are made heroes 
not by conferred titles, but by the death grapple 
with obstacles. They had set themselves a 
task that needed supernatural aid indeed — a 
hopeless task from a human point of view — 
confronted by a wall of Jewish prejudice 
heaven high, and a black pall of heathen dark- 
ness, philosophy, worldliness, and sensuality, 
hitherto supposed to be an insurmountable bar- 
rier. Without that divine Presence of which 
they were continually conscious they would 
have turned back. 

But nowhere is the courage, faith, hope, and 
sublime confidence of the transfigured Church 
more apparent than in the hopefulness with 
which these men faced the whole world, and no 
persistence is more sublime than theirs when 
under seeming defeat they press on. This was 
divine power manifest in human form. These 
were men Spirit-possessed. For such God is 
looking to-day to carry on his work. 

It is not surprising that they created a com- 



The Transfigured Life 6i 

motion among the people. Men at once saw 
that this doctrine was not only new^, but de- 
manded something of them radically different 
from their former mode of living. While some 
devout hearts long waiting for somiC divine 
manifestation to illuminate the darkness of 
their lives received the truth gladly, others were 
filled wath alarm, and saw in this teaching the 
overthrow of their pet theories of speculation, 
and even more — the ruin of their ambitions and 
fortunes, and a radical change in the social 
order; hence their attitude was hostile, and 
their utmost effort was exerted for the im- 
mediate suppression of the heresy at all cost. 

This marked divergence of opinion was 
everywhere manifest. It was especially prom- 
inent at Thessalonica, where, as it is said, some 
of the Jews ^'believed, and consorted with Paul 
and Silas; and of the devout Greeks a great 
multitude, and of the chief women not a few" 
(Acts xvii, 4). But on the other hand the 
hostile Jews set the city aflame with mob vio- 
lence and dragged certain of the believers be- 
fore the rulers of the city, crying, 'These that 
have turned the world upside down are come 



62 The Transfigured Life 

hither also" (verse 6). And here we may 
pause. The world needed turning over, for it 
had been hitherto wrong side up. 

But some may say that the circumstances of 
the early Church were peculiar, and is it rea- 
sonable to expect similar results in these days ? 
Why not ? Circumstances and manifestations, 
it is true, may differ, but why not results, if the 
Church to-day will fulfill the same substantial 
underlying conditions of personal experience of 
those spiritual realities which were the under- 
lying motives in the lives of the early believers? 

We may briefly surnmarize these spiritual 
conditions as follows : 

1. A settled faith in Jesus Christ as the 
Messiah, the Son of God. 

2. Unshaken confidence in the resurrection 
of Christ from the dead, and present exaltation 
and mediation at the right hand of God. Un- 
shaken confidence also in his ability and will- 
ingness to save immediately and to the utter- 
most. 

3. Belief that he has sent his Holy Spirit, the 
divine Presence, into the world to guide, com- 
fort, and strengthen his people. 



The Transfigured Life 63 

4. The actual possession of the Holy Spirit 
through faith by each individual minister and 
layman in the Church; each believer realizing 
by actual experience that he is filled with the 
Holy Ghost. 

5. Complete consecration of the individual, 
life, body, soul, and spirit, to Christ in every 
thought and emotion and action ; the crowning 
of Christ not only as Saviour and Mediator, 
but as King, the Lord of life, to control, gov- 
ern, and use — the self-life subjugated and 
Christ enthroned. 

6. The complete dedication of property to 
Christ, to be administered, used, multiplied, 
preserved for his glory only, and for the ad- 
vancement of his kingdom. 

7. A Spirit-filled ministry and laity, continu- 
ally proclaiming the truth in sermon, and also 
in common conversation. 'They went every- 
where talking the word'' — sanctified conver- 
sation. 

8. The missionary idea predominant — not 
only carrying the good news to individuals, but 
the Church as a whole sending forth repre- 
sentatives to proclaim the truth. 



64 The Transfigured Life 

9. The spirit of love, charity, and service to 
those in need — no one in pinching want. The 
need of each met by the service of the many, 
through the Church's representatives, and b}^ 
individual ministrations. 

10. A continual attitude of prayer and com- 
munion with God, a feeling of divine guidance 
through the Holy Spirit. 

''But," says one, ''are you not going too far? 
Of course we cannot carry out all this now, you 
know. It would unsettle and change the exist- 
ing order of things. Don't go too far, don't be 
a fanatic. Go slow. The Church will suffer." 
So said the unbelieving Jews whom Paul con- 
fronted, when the Spirit of God sent him to his 
work. The best Church members of Paul's 
time used just such language as the above. 
You are ^'turning the world upside down." 
Your principles will change the existing order. 
Well, so they may. The Christ when incar- 
nated in human lives always changes things 
that are wrong. The alarm manifest when it 
is suggested that the principles which Jesus 
lived and taught be put into actual practice by 
those who call themselves by his name is evi- 



The Transfigured Life 65 

dence that ''the existing order/' while bearing 
the name Christian, is in some measure at least 
— perhaps in a large measure — not Christian. 
Let us back to Christ as individuals, and 
transform and regulate our lives by him, the 
only true standard. Let the change come by 
an inner reformation rather than by external 
calamity. Let the individual believer be filled 
with the Holy Spirit rather than to wait till 
the change to the whole come by sudden and 
overwhelming catastrophe in which the indi- 
vidual may be lost. For come there must such 
a change to the ''existing order," as come it did 
to the ancient "existing order," which went 
down in blood, disaster, and confusion. But 
out of that confusion emerged the new order, 
the Church born anew, centering around a little 
company of men and women whose individual 
transfigured lives made a transfigured Church 
a glorious possibility. 
5 



I BELIEVE GOD" 



TRUST GOD 



When the heart is sad and weary, 
And all the world seems dreary; 
When the damps of autumn chill thee, 
And the piercing ice-winds fill thee 
With dread; 

When the friends of youth forsake thee, 
And the ills of age o'ertake thee; 
When no hand shall still caress thee, 
And no voice remains to bless thee, 
Trust God. 

He who was by friends forsaken. 
He who was by foes o'ertaken. 
He who trod the wine press lonely, 
He who drank the cup, he only 
Gives rest. 

Enter then the blest condition, ^ 
Share with him the sweet fruition : 
Victory now, and rest forever ; 
Naught from God the soul can sever 
Who trusts. 



CHAPTER V 
''I Believe God'' 

''I BELIEVE God, that it shall be even as it 
was told me'' (Acts xxvii, 25). So said Paul 
in the midst of that terrible storm and ship- 
wreck. And this man, a prisoner, who believed 
God, became the practical commander of the 
ship and saved the lives of all. Abraham be- 
lieved God, and it was counted unto him for 
righteousness. Elijah believed God in the face 
of seeming impossibilities, and was fed and 
vindicated. These names would never have 
been recorded in the glorious list of God's im- 
mortals had they not believed that God meant 
just what he said. They did not question how 
the apparently impossible could be, but with 
straightforward simplicity believed that it 
would be, and it was. Why? Because God 
said so, with absolutely no other reason. This 
was faith. 

These men by believing the word vindicated 
the word. Every believer is a vindicator. 



70 The Transfigured Life 

Every person who actively trusts God's word is 
an apologist of Scripture. The most success- 
ful apologists are those who use the word the 
most. The cloister apologist has his place, but 
it is not so important a place as that of the field 
apologist. It is fortunate that while so much 
unbelief exists, yet there are some of God's peo- 
ple who go on believing and acting the word, 
untrammeled by scholastic reasoning, thus vin- 
dicating by faith what the scholastic eventually 
confirms by tardy reason. 

The soldier is not called upon to defend his 
sword, but to use it. He does not enter into a 
debate with his enemy as to the temper of his 
steel. The quick and energetic thrust is a bet- 
ter argument. Cold steel ends debate in favor 
of the best weapon and the man who knows 
how to use it. The word is a sword (Eph. vi, 
17). Its edge has never been known to turn 
in an encounter. Its success has been phenom- 
enal. It has won victories where fleshly wis- 
dom has signally failed. 

The men who have been most successful in 
winning souls, in reawakening an interest in 
the word — the most successful apologists — 



The Transfigured Life 71 

who are they? Not closet philosophers, but 
sword users in the field, men who know the 
word and who use the word — Wesley, Spur- 
geon, Meyer, Moody, and a noble army besides. 
What we admire most in these men is their sim- 
ple directness, and the mighty power of that 
simplicity. They believe that God means just 
what he says. This is the secret of that power 
which has been a wonder to many. This is the 
whole philosophy of the foolishness of faith. 
The need of the pulpit is men filled with the 
Spirit of God, and who preach the word of God 
in the power of that Spirit — less of preaching 
in the power of fleshly wisdom, more of scrip- 
tural preaching in the power of the Holy Spirit. 
This is the need of every individual believer — 
less of the self-life and more of the power of 
the Holy Spirit in every particular of life. 

This is the need of the Church — less of 
schemes, financial and social, for running the 
Church, and more reliance on the power and 
guidance of the Holy Spirit in every detail of 
Church work. The Church to-day sometimes 
makes the same serious mistake that the Israel- 
ites made in the times of Isaiah and the other 



T2 The Transfigured Life 

prophets. They took their poHtics from Egypt 
or from Assyria, as the exigencies of the times 
seemed to demand. They adopted from them 
war tactics — horses and chariots, and so forth 
— contrary to God's express command. They 
adopted social customs and styles from the 
Sidonians and Canaanites against which God 
had expressly warned them. But their world- 
ly policy ended in their utter overthrow and 
final captivity. 

''Woe to them that go down to Egypt for help, 
and stay on horses; and trust in chariots, be- 
cause they are many, and in horsemen, because 
they are very strong; but they look not unto 
the Holy One of Israel, neither seek the 
Lord! . . . Now the Egyptians are men, and 
not God ; and their horses flesh, and not spirit : 
and when the Lord shall stretch out his hand, 
both he that helpeth shall stumble, and he that 
is holpen shall fall, and they all shall fail to- 
gether" (Isa. xxxi, 1-3). 'Woe to the rebel- 
lious children, saith the Lord, that take counsel, 
but not of me ; . . . that walk to go down into 
Egypt, and have not asked at my mouth; to 
strengthen themselves in the strength of 



The Transfigured Life 73 

Pharaoh, and to trust in the shadow of Egypt ! 
Therefore shall the strength of Pharaoh be 
your shame, and the trust in the shadow of 
Egypt your confusion" (Isa. xxx, 1-3). 

How strikingly this world policy of *^man- 
power" and ''horse-flesh" are contrasted by the 
prophet with Israel's true source of power, the 
Spirit of God! Can we not with truth adopt 
the language of Isaiah at the present time and 
characterize a great deal of our Church work as 
''man-power" and "horse-flesh?" Let us re- 
member that the Egyptian policy is always dis- 
astrous to the Church. Let us to the law and 
the testimony, and work according to the word. 
^ While the faith of God's people has in a 
measure vindicated the word, and the success 
of the Church has been in proportion to its 
faith, yet might not the Church have achieved a 
still greater success had she believed more? 
The success of the past is only a tithe of what 
might have been achieved had the Church fully 
believed and obediently followed her Lord. 
Both our success and our failure should teach 
us to trust. God is calling his people to-day to a 
deeper, higher, broader experience of things 



74 The Transfigured Life 

spiritual than they ever knew before. Will they 
enter and possess it ? If so, they will see great 
things, and enjoy vastly larger fruitfulness. 

Two things are essential — to believe the word 
and to use the word. But how can one use the 
word effectively who does not know the word, 
or does not practice its use ? Do we not some- 
times find ourselves woefully ignorant of our 
most effective weapon? Spanish gunnery be- 
became a byword for inefficiency in the Span- 
ish-American war. The Spaniard, though 
equipped with modern improvements, did not 
know how to use them. But what shall we say 
of a vast number of Christians who when asked 
to point a soul to Christ are helpless, do not 
know what passage of Scripture will apply to 
a given difficulty, or where to find the fitting 
passage; or who in temptation are overcome 
by the adversary because they do not know the 
use of the sw^ord — a soldier with plenty of am- 
munition and the best of equipment but ig- 
norant of their use? 

But back of knowledge and use of the word 
should be a simple trust in the word. The 
Israelites failed at Kadesh-barnea because they 



The Transfigured Life 75 

did not believe the word. They ''entered not 
in because of unbeHef" (Heb. iv, 6). There is 
the same unbeUef in the Church to-day, which 
prevents God's people from entering the land 
of blessing and fruitfulness. Some one w411 
doubt this statement, but a little attention to 
facts will prove it. Israel's history, in the de- 
liverance from Egypt, at Kadesh, in the prom- 
ised land, is an object lesson in Christian ex- 
perience of perpetual application. 

Does not experience teach us that every be- 
liever, at or soon after conversion, is brought 
to the land of soul rest and victory, and is in- 
vited to enter? Alas, how many of us fail to 
do so! The vast majority of the Church to-day 
are wandering in the wilderness. We come to 
Kadesh and see the good land, but we say, ''No, 
it cannot be for me" — "not for me," "not now," 
fatal words! — "possibly after death in heaven 
I may enjoy it." A great mistake! God in- 
tended this rest experience for his people now, 
in this life. It should be the normal common 
life of God's children. This was his intention. 
Read carefully the third and fourth chapters of 
Hebrews. The entire argument is a plea for 



^6 The Transfigured Life 

God's people now to enter into rest. They 
''entered not in because of unbelief" (Heb. iii, 
19; iv, 6). ''Let us fear," lest we fail in the 
same way (Heb. iv, i; iii, 11). The question 
of rest in the present tense is forever settled by 
Heb. iv, 3 : "For we which have believed do 
enter into rest." "Believe," "enter" — this is 
God's order. A majority of the Church do not 
enter, therefore they do not believe. These are 
the facts. 

Let us examine the record. Num. xiii. The 
spies, returning, all said, "It is a good land" — 
a land of luxury, a land of plenty — and they 
produced the evidences. But they said also, 
"There are strong enemies, and we are weak;" 
so ten of them said, "We are not able to possess 
it" (verse 31). But Caleb and Joshua said, 
"We are able" (verse 30). The people believed 
the ten and went back into the wilderness, but 
the record shows their great mistake. 

At a convention of representative Christian 
people the writer presented from Scripture evi- 
dences some of the attractions of the good land 
of promise, a land of peace, soul rest, plenty, 
joy, victory, and the question was asked, "How 



The Transfigured Life Tj 

many believe it is a good land?'' And all gave 
assent to the proposition, which was written 
upon the blackboard : 

''i. It is a good land,'' 

But it was shown that it is also a land of con- 
flict, and there were enemies still in the land to 
be cast out, and we are weak, yes, very weak. 
But God's promises of help and victory through 
faith wxre cited, and with these promises in 
view the question was put, *'How many will 
declare that we are able to possess it?" The 
vote was not unanimous, and yet a goodly 
number had confidence to believe that the 
Church, God's people, we, are able, and a 
second proposition was written : 

"2. We are able to possess it/' 

But God's army is made up of individuals, 
and a good leader without an army of indi- 
viduals of the same spirit with himself is help- 
less. It was then shown from the word that 
the promise is to all — no respect of persons — 
and each individual must say the 'T will" of 
faith to God's promise in order to make up the 
sum total of the victorious ''We." So the third 
proposition was written : 



78 The Transfigured Life 

''3. / am able to possess it/' 

The people were asked to subscribe to this 
proposition, and but one hand was raised in 
assent. But after a Httle a few more took the 
leap of faith and subscribed the individual 'T' 
in place of the general and too often indefinite 
''We'' of our creeds. And this paucity of 
Calebs in our modern Church ! Our great army 
of Christian soldiers with its self-complacent 
ease and boasted success ? Yes, this was a 
fair representative Christian audience. The 
Calebs indeed are few. We enter not through 
the same example of fear and unbelief. We 
rest in the fatal ''not for me,'' "not now." But, 
"Let us fear" (Heb. iv, i); "Let us labor" 
(Heb. iv, it). 

We thus by our unbelief practically conclude 
that God does not, in our judgment, mean what 
he says; hence our conduct accuses him of in- 
sincerity. How then can we escape the odium 
of the denunciation of i John v, 10, terrible 
though it may seem? We practically make 
God a liar, because we profess to follow the 
Christ but really refuse in actual living to be- 
lieve the record. Let us fairly and squarely 



The Transfigured Life 79 

face the issue, and confess our unbelief, and 
humble ourselves before God. Then let us 
arise and go in and possess the land according 
to the word, and live in the land of soul rest — 
out of the land of defeat into the land of vic- 
tory, out of weakness into strength. Caleb 
had a large possession there (Num. xiv, 24; 
Deut. i, 36; Josh, xiv, 14). Dear friend, there 
is a possession there for you; take it. Let us 
say, ''It is a good land. We are able to possess 
it, I am able to possess it; zvtth God's help I 
will.'' Let us say in our hearts, and inscribe 
on our banners, '7 believe God.'' 



MILK AND HONEY 



ALL THE DAYS 



'Lo, I am with you all the days" (Matt, xxviii, 20). 

SUNDAY. 

What the day shall bring to me, 
That in turn I give to thee ; 
Thou, O Lord, who giv'st the days, 
Fill my soul with endless praise. 

MONDAY. 

Father, thou the source of all. 
Humbly now on thee I call ; 
Help me, Lord, thy love to show, 
Always, everywhere I go. 

TUESDAY. 

Teach me. Lord, thy word to know. 
Teach me how the seed to sow ; 
Grant that I some soul may win 
From the devious paths of sin. 

WEDNESDAY. 

Keep my tongue from speaking ill, 
With thyself my spirit fill ; 
Give me thus some message sweet, 
Bringing cheer to all I meet. 

THURSDAY. 

Thou wilt share my burdens, Lord, 
Strength for all thou wilt afford ; 
Others' burdens may I bear, 
Others' sorrows let me share. 



Thus my day shall brighter be. 
While I trusting rest in thee; 
Peace I have without alloy, 
Thrills my soul with love and joy. 

SATURDAY. 

May the past be all forgiven, 
And the present filled with heaven ; 
Let my life proclaim thy praise, 
Who art with me "all the days." 



I 



CHAPTER VI 
Milk and Honey 

^'It is an exceeding good land, a land flowing 
with milk and honey'' (Num. xiii, 2y\ Deut. 
viii, 8). This was the message of the spies 
concerning the land w^hich God had promised 
to Israel if they would but trust and obey him. 
And these terms, ''milk" and ''honey," have 
been symbols of fullness of spiritual blessing 
from that day to this. And what terms could 
be more fitting? — milk, signifying fullness and 
completeness of nourishment; honey, express- 
ing the sweetness, the pleasure, the delight of 
the abundant life of the soul in Christ its 
Saviour. For Jesus is our Canaan; through 
him we come into fullness of possession. 

Note how these terms are ever associated in 
the sacred descriptions of the land of blessing 
— the honey with the milk. It would seem, 
however, that we sometimes forget this in our 
Christian experience. We rest content with 
the milk, and seem to think it is asking almost 



84 The Transfigured Life 

too much of God to give us the honey also. 
''Just keep me from starving, Lord, is all I 
want; I ask no more. Til not be a burden to 
you/' But our God has something better for 
his guests, if they will but take it, honey with 
the milk, sweetness of blessing with the daily 
bread, pomegranates, grapes of Eshcol, and a 
table garnished with the roses of Sharon, the 
lily of the valley, and the evergreens of para- 
dise. Joy, sunshine, and beauty are the herit- 
age of God's people, who by faith dwell in ''the 
good land." 

Jesus purchased the right and title to this 
inheritance with his own blood. He is the Sun 
of righteousness, and he expects his people to 
dwell in the sunshine, and to reflect that sun- 
shine in lives of cheerfulness. The mes- 
sage of Jesus to the world is a message of glad- 
ness. The angels above the Bethlehem cradle 
called it "glad tidings of great joy," and Jesus 
himself had no other name for it, even when the 
shadow of the cross fell full across his pathway. 
His dying words to his disciples were, "Peace 
I leave with you" (John xiv, 27) ; "Be of good 
cheer; I have overcome the world" (John xvi. 



The Transfigured Life 85 

33). True, he said, "In the world ye shall 
have tribulation,'' but he added, *'Be of good 
cheer; I have overcome.'' It may seem a little 
strange that tribulation and good cheer should 
be yoked together in one sentence on the dying 
lips of Jesus, but so they were ; yet good cheer 
comes last and is the abiding part, while tribu- 
lation is but a passing incident. Tribulation is 
of time, good cheer is of eternity. Tribulation 
is of the world, good cheer is of heaven. Good 
cheer is the divine uplifting power which makes 
the burden light. There were fighting and 
conflict for Joshua in Canaan, but there were 
''milk and honey." 

How the honey of the good land flows from 
the heart of Jesus, and distills in heavenly drops 
of sweetness from his dying lips, even as the 
weight of the cruel cross presses still more 
closely in upon his burdened soul ! 

Note the same beautiful and mysterious 
antithesis in the terms ''joy" and "sorrow" in 
the dying address of Jesus. With what mel- 
lifluous sweetness these two words drop from 
the Saviour's lips — both ''joy" and ''sorrow!" 
Both necessary, but "joy" is crowned the vie- 



86 The Transfigured Life 

tor: ''Ye shall be sorrowful, but'' — ah, the 
blessed antithesis of this little word but — ''but 
your sorrow shall be turned into joy." "I will 
see you again, and your heart shall rejoice, and 
your joy no man taketh from you'' (John xvi, 
20, 22). Sorrow is inevitable. "Ye shall be 
sorrowful," but sorrow is capable of trans- 
formation : "Your sorrow shall be turned into 
joy." Our sorrow is but the "wrong side" of 
joy, the world side of God's eternal blessedness, 
the wilderness side of the Canaan of sweetness. 
How indeed was the sorrow of the disciples 
turned into joy when they saw the risen 
Saviour! It is only on the resurrection side 
of the grave that we can fully understand God's 
purposes in our lives. We walk by faith now. 
We cannot see all the Master Weaver's design 
in its intricate beauty. Nevertheless it is pos- 
sible to live the resurrection life here and now, 
and to catch a little glimpse now and then of 
the purpose and beauty of the concealed design ; 
but the complete view hereafter. 

Not Gethsemane, not Calvary, not Joseph's 
tomb — none of these complete the story of the 
life of Jesus. No one writing his life can end 



The Transfigured Life 87 

it there. If so, then indeed the last chapter 
would be headed ''Sorrow." But ah, no; 
there is another chapter, and in that the title 
''Sorrow" is changed, transformed into ''Joy/' 
and the place, not Calvary, but Olivet, and the 
company, not Roman soldiers and hissing Jews, 
but adoring disciples, with the transformed 
sorrow shining in radiant glory from their 
faces, which look not earthward now, but up- 
ward to heaven, while a cloud of choiring an- 
gels receive their ascending Lord. "He ever 
liveth." "Behold, I am alive for evermore." 
The last chapter of the life of Jesus is yet to be 
written, but up to the present Joy has conquered 
Sorrow. The continued history is to be re- 
corded in the sunshine, joy, and sweetness of 
the lives of his followers. "They shall obtain 
joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall 
flee away." 

Christian, have you entered into the inherit- 
ance of sweetness? If not, you are certainly 
not living up to your privilege in Christ. Nor 
are you living up to your duty. This is one of 
the commandments which Jesus left his dis- 
ciples. This is an important part of the Gospel, 



88 The Transfigured Life 

which somehow fails sometimes to get into our 
preaching and practice. The best sermon the 
world ever heard is a cheerful Christian, cheer- 
ful even when inclination goes counter to duty, 
taking up a duty with a smile rather than a 
frown. 

''Charlie, what makes you so sweet?'' said a 
fond mother, caressing her child. 'T dess 
when Dod made me out of dust he put some 
sudar in," said Charlie. Brother, did God for- 
get this part of the recipe when he made you, 
or has your unbelief and wilderness life turned 
the sweet into bitter? If so, I beseech you let 
the Spirit of God come in and there shall be a 
glorious transformation — the gall of bitterness 
into the sweetness of honey, the shadow into 
the sunshine, the frown into the smile. 

Resolve that your life with God's help shall 
be a life of sunshine, brightening other lives, 
illuminating some dark corner of the world. 
It is our oft-expressed desire to be like Christ. 
But remember that the life of Jesus never cast 
a shadow on any other life. He lifted up the 
bowed head. He ever brought the sunshine 
and dispelled the gloom. 



The Transfigured Life 89 

There is blessing in sunshine. A ray once 
started never stops. At the rate of one hun- 
dred and eighty-six thousand miles a second it 
goes on driving out the dark, and bringing life 
everywhere. There is power in sunshine. 
Scientists estimate that there is enough energy 
in fifty acres of sunshine to run all the machin- 
ery of the world. If concentrated it will melt 
rocks and turn the diamond into vapor. So 
there is power in the good cheer of God's love 
concentrated in, and poured through, the heart 
of a Christian, power to drive out the dark from 
many a soul and set it burning for God. 

Claim your full inheritance, the honey with 
the milk. Bear patiently the tribulations, but 
claim the good cheer, and share by faith in the 
victory of Jesus : ''I have overcome." Get on 
God's side of sorrow, and you will find it labeled 
"Joy." Claim the blessing by faith. ''The 
faithful and obedient shall eat the good of the 
land" (Isa. i, 19). 

As little Bessie was eating her dinner and 
the golden sunshine fell full upon her spoon, 
making it send forth a gleam of radiance, she 
put it to her mouth, and exclaimed ''O, mamma, 



90 The Transfigured Life 

I have swallowed a whole spoonful of sun- 
shine." We commend this diet to all who 
would honor the Christ Child. Claim the bless- 
ing by faith. 



A THEORY OF KNOWLEDGE 



THE LIFE MORE ABUNDANT 



I THIRST the abundant life to know, 
The largeness of Thy love ; 

Wilt thou the Holy Ghost bestow 
In fullness from above? 

Break down the idols, O my King, 

And set my spirit free; 
Make thou my soul with gladness sing, 

In perfect liberty. 

I hate the ties of earth that bind 

My soul to sensual things ; 
I long in fuller life to find 

The joy that freedom brings. 

I would be fully set apart, 

And separated be; 
Reign thou supreme within my heart. 

To all eternity. 



CHAPTER VII 
A Theory of Knowledge 

The way into the holiest of intellectual 
power is by faith. It is folly to speak of an 
education as completed, or even well begun, 
unless the individual student has come into 
personal sympathy with the Spirit and mind of 
Christ. 

The spiritual life gives larger and clearer in- 
tellectual vision. When we rise into the spir- 
itual we share with God in the plan of the uni- 
verse. This is an honor conferred upon us to 
become partakers in the divine purpose. From 
this vantage ground of the realm of higher 
spiritual law we look down into the realm of 
natural law, and much that was before inex- 
plicable is seen now to be a part of a plan, and 
to have its proper place. It is seen now to be 
not purposeless, eccentric, unnatural, or out 
of place, as it appeared in the lower realm of 
thought, but as essential, natural, and a neces- 
sary part of a great design and purpose. 



94 The Transfigured Life 

There is a natural philosophy, and there is 
a spiritual philosophy. Jesus gave his disciples 
an insight into this philosophy of the spiritual 
when he healed the man that was born blind 
(John ix). They raised the old query, which 
still troubles the student, ''Who did sin, this 
man, or his parents, that he was born blind?" 
They anxiously awaited the Master's answer 
to this troublesome problem of speculation, so 
long discussed by the rabbis. Jesus startled 
them by the answer, ''Neither." They sup- 
posed that their dilemma, "this man, or his 
parents," had exhausted the possible. Jesus 
brushed all this aside with the one word 
"neither," and raised the problem at once to 
the higher spiritual realm of God's moral plans 
and activities, to which the lower natural realm 
was but accessory. This case belongs to the 
"works of God." 

Without doubt the man born blind is to-day 
praising God in heaven that he was born blind. 
Why ? Because by that misfortune he saw the 
Messiah, and became a sharer and colaborer for 
all time in the great plan of redemption, while 
others with good eyes, who looked upon the 



The Transfigured Life 95 

man Jesus and conversed with him, had no 
vision of their longed-for Messiah, but pro- 
nounced their own doom and pubHshed their 
own unbeHef and bHndness when they said, 
''We know that this man is a sinner'' (John 
ix, 24). But the man upon whom the miracle 
had been wrought ''believed on" Jesus, and so 
rose into a knowledge of the mystery of his 
own life's misfortune. His faith elevated this 
intellectual life, opened his spiritual eyes as well 
as his natural eyes, gave him a grand and 
glorious outlook into the plan of his own life, 
and also brought him an answer to that per- 
sistent and haunting Why ? which had troubled 
not only himself but also his neighbors. 

Even so, brother, if you cannot just now ex- 
plain the mystery of your own misfortune, 
trust God. In due time you will be enlightened, 
and will praise God for this very experience, 
which seems now inexplicable. "What I do thou 
knowest not now; but thou shalt know here- 
after" (John xiii, 7). The revelation may per- 
chance be delayed for a season. But the delay 
is but intended to deepen faith and to lead to 
a larger and more glorious vision. The mar^ 



96 The Transfigured Life 

born blind lived to full manhood in the dark. 
Jesus delayed to come to the bedside of the 
dying Lazarus that he might unfold to the sor- 
rowing sisters and believing disciples the larger 
glory at the tomb of him whom he loved. . 'T 
am glad for your sakes that I was not there, 
to the intent ye may believe" (John xi, 15). 

You may have been disappointed in business ; 
life's ambitions may have been frustrated; the 
cherished idol of your heart has been removed ; 
and the why of it all has been beyond your 
comprehension, above the realm of natural law 
with w^hich you are familiar. Can you not by 
faith turn to Jesus, ask his explanation, and 
hear him say, ^'That the works of God might 
be made manifest in you?" (John ix, 3.) 

How God in his providence has used the 
stripes and imprisonment, the perils by land 
and sea, the shame and disgrace of Paul, for 
the founding of his kingdom not only in the 
first century, but for its upbuilding in all the 
centuries, and for the spiritual growth and com- 
fort of millions! Think ye not, then, that 
Paul thanks God to-day for all these? Yea, 
even in his lifetime he learned the lesson, and 



The Transfigured Life 97 

had the glorious privilege of rejoicing in his 
afflictions, because he saw their place in God's 
plan (Rom. v, 3). 

How partial, obscure, and fragmentary was 
the knowledge of the disciples before Pente- 
cost! How full, clear, decided, and unwaver- 
ing after the Holy Spirit had come upon them ! 
Every act of Jesus is now brought clearly to 
their remembrance, and what was before but 
partially understood now readily finds its place 
in the great plan of world redemption which 
unfolds before them. And not only so, but all 
Old Testament history and prophecy just as 
clearly now explains itself, when illuminated 
by the same Spirit. 

How clear all this appeared to Paul after 
Ananias had prayed for him, and his eyes had 
been opened, and the Holy Spirit had come 
upon him ! So clear was it to him that he 
dogmatically asserts this great fundamental 
principle of knowledge: *^Now we have re- 
ceived, not the spirit of the world, but the, 
Spirit which is of God; that we might know 
the things that are freely given to us of God" 

(i Cor. ii, 12). Shall we limit this entirely 

7 



98 The Transfigured Life 

to what is commonly called religious experi- 
ence? I do not think Paul so intended. ''We 
have received the Spirit of God, that we might 
know/' If Paul had stopped here, and had 
left the predicate undetermined, to be limited 
only by the faith of the individual believer, 
what a privilege, what a key to knowledge, 
how plain a road to intellectual power! But 
Paul supplies a predicate — -'the things that 
are freely given to us of God." But is not this 
coextensive with our first thought? Who 
shall set the bounds to ''the things that are 
freely given to us of God?" Does not this open 
to us the limitless realms of truth? Let faith 
enter then and draw bounds at its own sweet 
will. The Spirit opens the door to the universe 
of truth. 

Jesus said to Martha at Lazarus's tomb, 
"Said I not unto thee, that, if thou wouldest 
believe, thou shouldest see the glory of God?" 
(John xi, 40.) Is not this clear, "If thou 
wouldest believe, thou shouldest see?" And 
what shalt thou see? Nothing less than the 
glory of God. Yea, glorious things are un- 
folded to the open-eyed believer. Not man's 

4%^ 



The Transfigured Life 99 

puny intellect unaided seeks to penetrate the 
mystery of life, but God himself unrolls the 
picture to the astonished gaze of him who will 
only believe. 

Is not Jesus the way, the truth, and the life? 
(John xiv, 6.) How then can I say that I 
have a liberal education, and eliminate from my 
course of study a personal knowledge of Jesus? 
To know the truth I must study him, to know 
him I must receive his Spirit. Thus only can 
I understand his thought and find my own 
place in his plan. 

Jesus himself is the answer to the soul's 
longing to know. He offers a perpetual chal- 
lenge to the intellectual curiosity of mankind. 
When he says, ''Learn of me" (Matt, xi, 29), 
'T am the truth,'' he assumes to be of all teach- 
ers the Teacher. We may conclude, I think, 
without debate or fear of contradiction, that 
Jesus is capable of teaching us. We may 
safely conclude also that he is willing to give 
us instruction, for his ''Learn of me" is not only 
a challenge to the intellectual curiosity of the 
race, but also a blessed and loving invitation to 
every soul troubled by any perplexity to seek 



100 The Transfigured Lif^ 

in him the sohition of the otherwise insoluble 
problems of life. 

Now, if a student would take instruction 
from some noted professor, he must go to that 
teacher, he must subscribe his name as subject 
to the laws of the university or institution of 
learning where instruction is given, he becomes 
amenable to its laws and government ; in other 
words, he voluntarily puts himself under in- 
struction. And further, if he be a sincere 
student he gladly puts himself under the per- 
sonal guidance of the instructor; he obeys his 
directions. Even so the learner in Christ's 
school must first matriculate. He must put 
himself under instruction. If sincere he volun- 
tarily and gladly submits to the will of the 
Great Teacher. Only by obedience to and faith 
in his instructor can he learn to the fullest ex- 
tent of his capacity. As the beauty of truth 
unfolds before him he realizes that, Blessed are 
the teachable : for they shall be taught of God. 
He feels that there is no greater blessedness 
than to learn of Christ. ''He that wills to do 
his will shall know'' (John vii, 17). The 
willing surrender of the soul to the Great 



The Transfigured Life ioi 

Teacher is the beginning of wisdom. Are you 
a true disciple of Jesus? Then, 'Tt is given 
unto you to know the mysteries of the king- 
dom" (Matt, xiii, ii). ''But to them it is not 
given." To whom is it not given? To the 
disobedient and unbeHeving. Faith and 
obedience are the conditions of knowledge. My 
dear friend, if you have not already done so 
will you not now, this very moment, put your- 
self gladly, unreservedly, and irrevocably 
under the instructions of the Great Teacher? 
Write your name down now as from henceforth 
a learner in the school of Christ. 

There is a blessed advantage in learning of 
him in that we not only receive his instructions, 
but we have the added advantage, that greatest 
boon to the true student, the personal com- 
panionship of our Teacher. Our Teacher is 
not only our guide in learning, but our com- 
panion in life. We thus have the highest and 
best advantage in all study. We learn after 
we have been to school to him a little while 
that himself is the goal of all his instructions, 
and we are happiest when through the teach- 
ings we touch the Teacher. And may we not 



I02 The Transfigured Life 

believe that the Teacher is best satisfied when 
through his teachings he impresses himself 
upon the willing pupil? The personality of 
our beloved Teacher is ours — our individual 
possession; and we rejoice when we come to 
feel in fuller and fuller measure that we have 
not only his teachings, but we possess him. 
He is a Teacher who does not exhaust himself 
in a day. The more we possess of him the more 
we desire him. We value his words above all 
earthly treasure, but we value him still more, 
and so having him and learning of him we be- 
come like him. It is the highest excellence in 
the teacher to impress himself upon the pupil. 
This Jesus does in a unique and peculiar sense, 
in the highest and noblest sense possible. Only 
those who have learned of him can fully under- 
stand this. And he is such a kind and patient 
teacher, so long-suffering with our stupid at- 
tempts to learn, so faithful to repeat the lesson 
over and over ! 

If it should be objected that Jesus' s invita- 
tion to learn of him is not to intellectual fields 
of investigation, but in the realm of the moral 
and spiritual, I should answer, Come, never- 



The Transfigured Life 103 

theless, for soul rest is on the whole more im- 
portant to the individual than intellectual great- 
ness, if one were compelled to choose between 
the two. But, on the other hand, soul rest — 
to place the argument on the lowest plane — 
is not an unfavorable condition for intellectual 
development. 

Come, weary one, into the rest chamber of 
Christ's perpetual presence, and there shall be 
unfolded to you the treasures of wisdom. ''No 
good thing wall he withhold.'' ''Eye hath not 
seen, nor ear heard, . . . the things w^hich 
God hath prepared for them that love him" 
(i Cor. ii, 9). 



GUIDANCE 



HE LEADETH 



He leadeth me, 
Through the clouds, 
Toward the light; 
Out of the shadows, 
Out of the night. 
He leadeth me. 

The Master leadeth; 
Content to feel 
His hand, confiding, 
Though seeing not; 
Through darkness hiding, 
The Master leadeth. 

He safely leadeth; 
Though devils rage, 
Their power is broken; 
Praise the Lord ! 
How sweet the token, 
He safely leadeth ! 

He sweetly leadeth; 
I rest in peace, 
He cares for me; 
The clouds disperse, 
His face I see; 
He sweetly leadeth. 



CHAPTER VIII 

Guidance 

I. God has promised to guide his people. 
Let us fix our minds upon this, settle it once for 
all, and never go back of it, that God has 
promised to guide his people. We shall need 
to come back to it often, perhaps, in moments 
of perplexity and confusion. We shall need 
to stop in life's hurry and repeat it to ourselves 
and rest down upon it. God has promised to 
guide his people. ''Thine ears shall hear a 
word behind thee, saying. This is the way, 
walk ye in it, when ye turn to the right hand, 
and when ye turn to the left" (Isa. xxx, 21). 
'T have set before thee an open door, and no 
man can shut it" (Rev. iii, 8). With the voice 
behind and the open door of opportunity placed 
before us, we see that God's guidance is not 
merely a signboard guidance, but a protecting 
guidance, and a guidance of companionship. 
'Thine ear shall hear a word." "Certainly I 
will be with thee" (Exod. iii, 12). "My pres- 



io8 The Transfigured Life 

ence shall go with thee'' (Exod. xxxiii, 14), 
said God to Moses. And Moses showed his 
implicit trust in that guidance when he said, 
'Tf thy presence go not with me, carry us not 
up hence" (Exod. xxxiii, 15). 

This guidance of Israel is a type for all time. 
The pillar of cloud and fire by day and by 
night ; its protecting presence in the rear when 
danger threatened there, and the blessed com- 
munion of Moses with the divine Presence — 
what God did do with Israel is a concrete prom- 
ise in history, a perpetual object lesson of what 
he will do for every individual in all time who 
will trustingly follow. 

This guidance is unremitting and constant, 
night and day. ''Lest any hurt it, I will keep 
it night and day'' (Isa. xxvii, 3). It is an 
instructive guidance. ''He shall teach you all 
things" (John xiv, 26). "He will guide you 
into all truth" (John xvi, 13). This is the 
kind of guidance which God has promised to 
his people. 

2. God is capable of guiding his people. 
Set this landmark next, and let it never be re- 
moved. "But," says one, "why, yes, of course 



The Transfigured Life 109 

God is capable; why should it be necessary to 
state that fact? It is an axiom/' True, but 
we must begin all study and all life with 
axioms, and those axioms must be implied and 
used every step of the way. Our wavering 
life needs to restate and reaffirm this axiom 
again and again, for at this very point we fail. 
We forget the axiom and attempt the solution 
without it, and end in failure. We may, per- 
haps, remember that God has promised to 
guide, but in the stress of anxiety we bend our 
backs to the great burden, seek out a path for 
ourselves. Thus, forgetting the voice behind, 
and failing to take our bearings by the cloud 
before, we at once, with fret and fume and 
worry, seek the solution alone and unaided. 
Does not our action often imply it, and is there 
not back of all our conduct an implied doubt 
as to God's ability to do what he has expressly 
promised to do ? Have we not time and again 
done violence to the axioms of our faith ? ''He 
is able" (Rom. iv, 21; Eph. lii, 20). Is it not 
the highest of presumption to take the matter 
out of God's hands and assume the entire re- 
sponsibility ourselves? Shall we assume to 



no The Transfigured Life 

know more than our Creator about the plan and 
purpose of his handiwork? What impiety! 
He will care for his own. 

3. Claim guidance, ''Ye have not, because 
y^ ask not'' (James iv, 2). 'If any of you lack 
wisdom, let him ask of God, . . . and it shall 
be given him" (James i, 5). But let him ask 
in faith, nothing wavering. We cannot claim 
guidance unless we are willing to be led. There 
must be complete and full surrender of will to 
the guide. We must not dispute nor question 
the leading. The leader is wiser than the led. 
He can see farther. 

"But, says one, "how can I know that he will 
not require of me something I do not wish to 
do, or point out a path I do not want to fol- 
low?'' Alas! this is not faith. This is not 
the surrendered will. How soon we have for- 
gotten our axiom ! "He is able." "But why 
should I go this way rather than that?" Again 
we stumble. There is no "why" in the surren- 
dered life. We have lived all too long in the 
"why." It is a land of hesitation, of doubt, 
and may end in rebellion. Some have con- 
tinued so long in the Why Land that the "why" 



The Transfigured Life i i i 

has prolonged itself until life itself has become 
a perpetual zuhine. God's true followers live 
in the What Land. With face forward, ''What 
next, Lord?" is their constant attitude. 
Brother, get out of the 'Svhy'' into the 'Svhat.'' 
Say, ''I will," to God, and let him lead. ''The 
meek will he guide in judgment" (Psa. xxv, 

9)- 

We must settle it once for all that God's 

ways are not man's ways. He may lead con- 
trary to what you or your best friends think 
for the time being is best. There may be 
rough and dangerous ways as well as the green 
meadows and still waters. There may be 
African jungles to penetrate, with sunless days 
and quaking nights. But God leads still. He 
has promised, and he is able. He makes no 
mistakes. It is ours only to follow. The plan 
and the issue belong to him. And, besides, 
he has left us a sweet and precious promise of 
some day sharing in the divine plan, and of 
beholding that wisdom which has led us, 
though now for a time it is withheld. We 
are not capable yet of understanding, but we 
shall be, but on one condition only, that we 



1 12 The Transfigured Life 

trust and follow. ''What I do thou knowest 
not now ; but thou shalt know hereafter'' (John 
xiii, 7). 

If we follow fully we will have to leave some- 
thing behind. Abraham had to leave Haran; 
Moses had to leave Egypt; Paul had to leave 
Jerusalem. Had they not done so we should 
not trace their history for instruction to-day. 
There would be no history to trace. ''Leaving 
the things which are behind" (Phil, iii, 13). 
"He went out, not knowing whither" (Heb. 
xi, 8). Brother, cut loose from everything 
now and follow ; God leads, and all's well. 

'*God liveth ever; 
Wherefore, soul, despair thou never ! 
What though thou tread with bleeding feet 

A thorny path of grief and gloom? 
Thy God will choose the way most meet 
To lead thee heavenward, lead thee home. 
For this life's long night of sadness 
He will give thee peace and gladness; 
Soul, remember in thy pains 
God o'er all forever reigns." 

Andrew Murray, on receiving congratula- 
tions on his seventieth birthday, said that the 
lesson of half a century of ministerial work to 
him was that God had for every man a sphere 
of work and a plan of work. The more unre- 



The Transfigured Life i 13 

servedly a man submits to God's will the more 
completely God's work was wrought. He de- 
clares that throughout his life any success was 
secured only by following God's guidance. 

4. The criteria of guidance. How does 
God guide ? Here we often perplex ourselves, 
and perhaps worry too much, and sometimes 
cripple faith with anxiety, which undermines 
the very foundation of confidence and trust. 
There are two extremes to be avoided: first, 
overanxiety ; second, rocking-chair indifference, 
which paralyzes personal energy, which says, 
''Yes, God will guide, there is nothing for me 
to do." 

Hear a parable: Two birdlings were snug 
in their nest. One said to the other, 'T have 
a strange feeling in my wings to-day; it seems 
almost as if I could fly. I am going to stand 
up and flap my wings a little and see how it 
feels. My, they are growing stronger; seems 
as if they would almost lift me up." ''O, 
nonsense," said his mate; ''keep still; you'll 
fall ; you're too young. What's the use in try- 
ing? You'll fly when your time comes. Be- 
sides you are injuring the nest, and you dis- 



1 14 The Transfigured Life 

turb me very much. I am going to lie still and 
have an easy time." So the days passed, with 
daily trials by the eager youngling and daily 
complaints by his companion, till one day the 
brave young fellow flew away, and away, as if 
he would never stop, and the little weakling 
left behind was lonely and pined for his com- 
panion. Then all too late he said, 'T must fly 
now,'' but when he tried to do so his untried 
wings would not support him, and he just 
tumbled to the ground, and a great cat spied 
him and quickly devoured him. 

Common sense, human judgment, is God- 
given, and must be Used, and used diligently 
and prayerfully, in order that it may help the 
life of which it is a part into the divine plan. 
It must grope or feel its way sometimes, per- 
haps, for a time in the dark, feeling after God, 
trying its wings, but it must continue to grope 
and try, till, like as the bird feels the support- 
ing, uplifting presence of the surrounding at- 
mosphere, so it feels the touch divine inspher- 
ing and uplifting and infilling, and enters into 
the blessed experience of the harmony of the 
divine and human which God intended for it. 



The Transfigured Life i i 5 

The soul is now, like the bird, in its element. 
It is now prepared to fulfill its destiny. The 
air for the wing, and the wing for the air: 
there is a natural correspondence. Even so, 
a divine correspondence ; yea, likewise, the soul 
of man for God, and God for the soul — the 
trusting soul trying its wings, the insphering 
Presence of the Spirit of God. Not many 
days does the bird try its wings ; some fly even 
from the egg. Not long does the surrendered 
will practice faith. Soon it launches out in 
fullness of trust, and is borne up and out and 
away by the insphering Presence of God, out 
into the fullness of its being, out into the pur- 
pose of its existence. The bird has found its 
life, the soul has found its mission. Wing and 
air harmonize; so God and human will are in 
sweet correspondence, long prepared and in- 
tended — man's life complete, God's will ful- 
filled. Behold Jesus, our perfect example, the 
harmonized life. ^T came down from heaven, 
not to do mine own will, but the will of him that 
sent me" (John vi, 38). "I must work the 
works of him that sent me" (John ix, 4). And 
how gloriously complete was the life of him 



1 1 6 The Transfigured Life 

who could say at its close, ''I have finished the 
work which thou gavest me to do!'' (John 
xvii, 4.) There is harmony in God's design 
for every believer. He on his side is leading 
toward it. If you on your side are sincerely 
reaching after it you will find it, and it is not 
far off. 'They that seek shall find." Faith 
will soon usher you into it, perhaps suddenly, 
perhaps so gradually that you scarcely perceive 
the transition. You are surprised some day 
to find yourself already enjoying the life of 
harmony. 

Do not afflict yourself with the thought that 
Gk)d's guidance necessarily means something 
hard and awful, the acme of the disagreeable, 
contrary to all your make-up, training, incli- 
nation and desires. It is quite as likely to be 
the perfect fulfillment of your highest desires, 
the realization of your fondest hopes, the real 
complement and fulfillment of the longing of 
your whole being, though it may require hard- 
ship, venture, trial, and may call out all the 
noblest ideal of self-sacrifice of which you have 
dreamed. Once your will is wholly his all the 
fond desires and heart longings, with the added 



The Transfigured Life 117 

accomplishments of education, experience, and 
circumstances, will find ample realization and 
their real fulfillment in the course of the divine 
leading. He uses all, the whole man, nothing 
neglected, and he will amply provide the milk 
and honey all the way. 

We have said that human judgment must be 
exercised, but of necessity upon the facts within 
its range ; its sphere is limited. We cannot see 
the end from the beginning; if we could there 
would be no need of guidance. Life's journey 
is not mapped out far in advance, but daily 
guidance is promised. Thus Israel was led by 
the cloud and pillar of fire just a day at a time. 
Moses had the promise, ''My presence shall go 
with thee." The perpetual presence of the 
Guide was better for them than a map of the 
journey. So have you, brother, the continued 
presence of the Guide himself, 'To, I am 
with you all the days." 'T will never leave 
nor forsake." We shall truly and successfully 
follow if we keep in his presence to-day; to- 
morrow belongs to him. 

The inward guidance of the Spirit of Christ, 
sanctifying and cooperating with our own 



ii8 The Transfigured Life . 

judgment, is a better guidance tlian by any 
external sign. Neither is the Christian led 
by external compulsion of any sort, but by 
suggestion and cooperation. The realm of his 
personality is not invaded. His will and judg- 
ment are respected and appealed to. Guidance 
does not, therefore, necessitate infallibility of 
action. He may make mistakes, which he him- 
self afterward recognizes as mistakes, but if 
sincere he learns by these very mistakes, and 
thus develops a stronger character. This is 
God's plan of developing a moral being. 

Dr. Marcus Dods has fittingly remarked : 
''This is the great distinction between the light 
which Christ is and the light by which the 
Israelites were led from day to day. They 
had an external means of ascertaining promptly 
which way they should go. Their whole life 
was circumscribed, and its place and mode de- 
termined for them. The guidance offered to 
us by Christ is of an inward kind. A God 
without might seem perfect as a guide, but a 
God within is the real perfection. God does 
not now lead us by a sign which we could 
follow, though we had no real sympathy with 



The Transfigured Life 119 

divine ways and no wisdom of our own; but 
he leads us by communicating to^ us his own 
perceptions of right and wrong, by inwardly 
enlightening us, and by making us ourselves of 
such a disposition that we naturally choose 
what is good. . . . No doubt it is easier to be- 
lieve in a guide w^e can see, and that moves 
before us like a pillar of fire ; but supposing for 
a moment that this dispensation under which 
we are living is not a great deception, suppos- 
ing for a moment that God is doing that one 
thing which he pledged himself to dO', namely, 
giving a divine Spirit to men, himself dwelling 
with men and in them, then we cannot fail to 
see that this guidance is of a much higher kind, 
and has much more lasting results than any 
external guidance could have. If, by allowing 
us to determine our own course and find our 
own way through all the hazards and perplex- 
ities of Hfe, God is teaching us to estimate ac- 
tions and their results more and more by their 
moral value, and if thereby he is impregnating 
you with his own mind and character, surely 
that is a much better thing than if he were keep- 
ing us in the right way merely by outward 



I20 The Transfigured Life 

signs and irrespective of our own growth in 
wisdom/' 

Let me give some practical hints from the ex- 
perience of two well-known persons. They 
corroborate in a large measure my own experi- 
ence. I am sure they will be helpful to others. 

Henry Drummond inscribed on the fly leaf of 
his Bible eight maxims, which summarized his 
own experience of three anxious years of wait- 
ing and uncertainty regarding his lifework. 
They are as follows : 

'^i. Pray. 

"2. Think. 

''3. Talk to wise people, but do not regard 
their decision as final. 

''4. Beware of the bias of your own will, 
but be not too mvich afraid of it (God never 
unnecessarily thwarts a man's nature and lik- 
ings, and it is a mistake to think that his will is 
in the line of the disagreeable). 

''5. Meantime do the next thing (for doing 
God's will in small things is the best prepara- 
tion for knowing it in great things). 

''6. When decision and action are neces- 
sary, go ahead. 



The Transfigured Life 121 

''7. Never reconsider the decision when it 
is finally acted upon ; and, 

''8. You will probably not find out till after- 
ward, perhaps long afterward, that you have 
been led at all." 

Hannah Whitall Smith, in The Christian's 
Secret of a Happy Life, distinguishes four 
criteria or ways by which God reveals his will 
to us : 

1. Through the Scriptures. 

2. Through providential circumstances. 

3. Through the convictions of our own 
higher judgment. 

4. Through the inward impressions of the 
Holy Spirit on our minds. 

''Where these four harmonize,'' she adds, 
''it is safe to say that God speaks. For I lay 
it down as a foundation principle, which no 
one can gainsay, that of course his voice will 
always be in harmony with itself, no matter in 
how many different ways he may speak. The 
voices may be many, the message can be but 
one. If God tells me in one voice to do or 
leave undone anything he cannot possibly tell 
me the opposite in another voice. . . . My 



122 The Transfigured Life 

rule for distinguishing the voice of God would 
be to bring it to the test of this harmony.'' 

^'He chose this path for thee, 
Though well he knew sharp thorns would pierce thy 
feet, 
Knew how the brambles would obstruct the way, 
Knew all the hidden dangers thou wouldst meet. 
Knew how thy faith would falter day by day; 
And still the whisper echoed, 'Yes, I see, 
This path is best for thee.' 

"He chose this path for thee : 
What need'st thou more? This sweeter truth to know, 

That all along these strange bewildering ways, 
O'er rocky steeps and where dark rivers flow, 
His loving arms will bear thee all the days. 
A few steps more, and thou thyself shalt see 
This path is best for thee." 



EXALTATION THROUGH SERVICE; 
OR, THE WAY TO BE GREAT 



THE SONG AND THE BURDEN 



Thou didst grant unto me a song, O Lord, 
A song of sweetest melody and grace ; 
And thou didst say unto me, "Sing the song;'' 
But thou didst lay a burden on me, Lord, 
It seemed too great by far for me to bear ; 
But thou saidst, ''Sing the song; the burden bear — 
The song and the burden !" 

The song was rapturous, heavenly sweet, as if 
By angel voices whispered choiring low. 
The natal hymn of that new earth to be. 
My heart leaped up with joy and glad surprise, 
As now I caught the thrilling pulse, and cried, 
"I'll sing the song, but the burden, alas ! — 
The song and the burden." 

Yet thou saidst, "Sing the song ; the burden bear ;" 
But still my heart was all so weary, sad. 
I cried, "Remove, O Lord, the burden drear. 
Then I will sing the song, and O, so sweet. 
The world will hear, and hearing heed, and rise. 
Newborn, to higher being, nobler life — 
The song, not the burden." 

Again thou saidst : "Sing, and bear ; my grace 
Enough ; thou shalt sing and thou shalt bear. 
And, bearing, sweeter sing ; thy fellows, too. 
Shall hear, and, hearing, quick new heart shall take. 
And nobler be. I'll tune thy heart to sing. 
And thou shalt sing the song, the burden bear — 
The song and the burden." 

I sang the song, and as I sang it sweet 
And sweeter grew, and they that listening heard, 
With eager look and ear did catch the strain. 
And swelled the anthem, ringing loud, to gates 
Of heaven and heart of earth tear-stained — the song 
Complete alone with sorrow's trembling chord — 
The song and the burden. 



The Transfigured Life 125 

And so I bore the burden, sang the song, 
And, singing thus, the burden lighter grew, 
The song much sweeter far ; and if, perchance, 
The softening tone of burden's strain were still, 
The music lost its power, the charm had fled ; 
And so I sing, and singing pray, "O Lord, 
The song and the burden !" 



CHAPTER IX 

Exaltation through Service; or^ The 
Way to Be Great 

''Teach me thy way," is the submissive 
prayer of the psahnist (Psa. xxvii, ii). No 
doubt the prayer was answered, for it is evident 
that God has been endeavoring through all the 
centuries to teach man his way by his word, 
by the incarnation of his Son, and by his Holy 
Spirit. How ignorant are we of God's ways, 
and how much we need teaching! But, alas! 
men are so unwilling to go God's way when 
their prayer is answered, and the way is plainly 
shown to them, that it would seem as if our 
Teacher would become discouraged with his 
willful pupils and give them up in despair. But 
how infinitely patient is our Teacher! With 
what long-suffering he teaches the same lesson 
over ^nd over again ! 

It is evident that we need instruction, for 
man is constantly reversing God's processes and 
doing violence to his laws. Sin has warped 



The Transfigured Life 127 

our judgment. We do not perceive spiritual 
things clearly. This leads to wrong courses 
of life, and brings spiritual shipwreck. This 
is evident in our individual ambitions and in 
our social and political life, and, indeed, often 
in man's home and Church life. We are not 
living as God has taught us to live. 

'They have not known my way" (Heb. iii, 
10), is the sorrowful lament of the Good 
Teacher. Ignorance of God's way increased 
by willful disobedience kept Israel out of Ca- 
naan, and is keeping thousands of Christians 
to-day out of unspeakable blessing. Self-con- 
demned, they wander in the wilderness when 
they might feast on the milk and honey. 

Man says, "Get, get, get'' God says, "Give, 
give, give." Man says, "Seek your fortune, 
that is the first business of life.'' God says, 
"Seek first the kingdom of heaven." Societv 
says, "Make all you can out of your neighbor." 
God says, "It is more blessed to give than to 
receive." "Go, sell, give," said Jesus (Matt. 
XIX, 21 ) . "Give, and it shall be given unto you" 
(Luke VI, 38). "Not as the world giveth, give 
I" (John XIV, 2y). Jesus is the incarnation of 



128 The Transfigured Life 

God's way, and ''not as the world" is the sum 
of his teaching, both by precept and example. 
''He gave himself." 

Society says, "Seek pleasure. Associate 
only with those who will gratify your pleasure. 
Command all possible resources to contribute 
to your selfish gratification." And are not 
many Christian people living on this principle ? 
But God says, "We ought not to please our- 
selves." "We then that are strong ought to bear 
the infirmities of the weak, and not to please 
ourselves." And Jesus is our pattern; "even 
Christ pleased not himself" (Rom. xv, 1-3). 
"I do always those things that please him" 
(John viii, 29). 

Man says, "I must have my way. The self- 
willed man is the successful one." Jesus said, 
"I came not to do mine own will." "I do always 
those things that please him" (John viii, 29). 

Man says, "Exalt self; become great; be 
first ;" and almost our whole education in these 
days, and our literature also, teaches this lesson. 
But God says, "He that humbleth himself shall 
be exalted.^' "God resisteth the proud, and 
giveth grace to the humble." "Humble your- 



The Transfigured Life 129 

selves therefore under the mighty hand of God, 
that he may exalt you in due time'' ( i Pet. v, 
6). Who is the agent of humiliation? Self. 
Who is the agent of exaltation ? God. When ? 
'Tn due time." Who is to determine that time? 
God. What is my part? Humility through 
service. The rest belongs to God. How 
foolish to seek God's place and to reverse 
the process. The disciples before Pentecost 
had no clearer conception of this than the 
Church apparently has to-day, for they quar- 
reled on the way to the cross as to who should 
be greatest, till Jesus must needs rebuke them 
with "a child in the midst." 

Man says, "Get power, get influence. Bless- 
ed is the man who can command the services 
of others to the greatest extent." Jesus taught 
directly the opposite. "It shall not be so among 
you." "Ye know that they which are accounted 
to rule over the Gentiles exercise lordship over 
them; and their great ones exercise authority 
upon them. But so shall it not be among you : 
but whosoever will be great among you, shall 
be your minister: and whosoever of you will 
be the chiefest, shall be servant of all. For even 



130 The Transfigured Life 

the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, 
but to minister, and to give his hf e a ransom for 
many" (Mark x, 42-45). The example of Je- 
sus from beginning to end is to teach us God's 
way. We might sum it up in three words, 
"Exaltation through service." We mistake in 
seeking the exaltation and forgetting the 
service. 

How beautifully Paul has sketched our ex- 
ample in the second chapter of Philippians. 
He exhorts the Church to unity and to avoid 
self-seeking by imitating the mind of Christ — 
verse 5. Analyze carefully what follows — 
verses 6-1 1. First, note the steps in Christ's 
humiliation, the continual voluntary descent 
from the highest to the lowest: i. He emptied 
himself oi his glory — voluntary self-renuncia- 
tion. The first step down is an act of will. 
"He humbled himself." Humility is not exter- 
nally imposed. It is self-assumed. Self-abase- 
ment takes the place of man's self-exaltation. 

2. He abandoned reputation, that which is 
most dear to man. He would teach us that 
service is our part ; reputation belongs to God. 

3. Still lower he goes. He became a "doulos," 



The Transfigured Life i 3 1 

a servant. 4. Took the form of man. 5. Still 
lower; as a man he humbled himself through 
perfect obedience even to the extreme of a 
shameful and dishonorable death. Ah, brother, 
have we not made a mistake? The way to 
heaven is down, not up — down with Jesus in 
humility, down with him in service, as he so 
beautifully taught when he took the basin and 
washed the disciples' feet. 

Second, note his exaltation, "Wherefore 
God hath highly exalted him:" i. A name 
high over all with universal adoration — "every 
knee shall bow." 2. Universal confession — 
"every tongue shall confess." 

Now, who is the agent of Christ's humili- 
ation? Yes, you are right; it is himself. 
Who is the agent of his exaltation? Yes, it 
IS God. "Let this mind be in you, which was 
also in Christ Jesus." And this we have learned 
was his mind; to humble self, and leave repu- 
tation with God ; not to have his own way, but 
to do the Father's will ; not to please himself, 
but to help others ; not to be waited upon, but 
to serve; and to follow the path of duty even 
to a disgraceful death. 



132 The Transfigured Life 

''How can ye believe, which receive honor 
one of another, and seek not the honor that 
Cometh from God only?'' (John v, 44.) Did 
Jesus speak these words of the unbelieving Jews 
only? Do they not have quite as practical a 
significance to the Church to-day as then? 
When the disciples contended as to who should 
be greatest Jesus rebuked them by setting a 
little child in the midst. Is there not need of 
the child in the midst of the Church now ? Is 
the ministry at large free from blame in this 
matter? 

The spirit of self-seeking in the Jewish 
priesthood prevented them from believing on 
Jesus as the Messiah. Their hesitancy and 
unbelief at the door of the new dispensation 
kept back also the great mass of the Jewish 
laity. It is well to pause and ask whether the 
same causes are not at work in the Church of 
the present day. If the spirit of selfish ambi- 
tion, the seeking of honor from one another, 
is sometimes painfully apparent in the Church, 
is it to be wondered at, when the same spirit is 
oftentimes conspicuously present in the spirit- 
ual leaders, whose very name, ''Minister," in- 



The Transfigured Life 133 

dicates that they are to be patterns in humihty 
and self-forgetful service? 

Are we not shamefully reversing God's 
order when we scramble for honors and exal- 
tation of self and quarrel for the best places? 
Exaltation belongs to God. Shall we with im- 
pious hands grasp at his prerogative? Nay, 
leave to God his part, and let us find ours in the 
blessedness of humble service. He shall exalt 
''in due time." Do not be overhasty to fix the 
time of your exaltation. The ''due time'' be- 
longs to him to determine. He took the basin 
and washed the disciples' feet and said, "I have 
given you an example." "He that loseth his 
life for my sake shall find it" (Matt, x, 39) . 

But how shall we serve? He has taught us. 
"Inasmuch -as ye have done it unto one of the 
least of these my brethren, ye have done it 
unto me." The service of humanity is the 
service of Christ. But wherewith shall I 
serve? Ask him. Power for service is at your 
disposal. "All power is given unto me in 
heaven and in earth. Go ye therefore" (Matt, 
xxviii, 18, 19). The Holy Spirit alone is the 
administrator of power. Receive him by faith. 



1 34 The Transfigured Life 

''Ye shall receive power, after that the Holy 
Ghost is come upon you" (Acts i, 8). 

"When I have nothing in my hand 

Wherewith to serve my King; 
When thy commandment finds me weak, 

And lackine everything ; 
My soul, upon thy greatness cast, 

Shall rise divinely free, 
And I will serve with what thou hast. 

And gird myself with thee." 



The Transfigured Life 135 

A FAREWELL 



HE SWEETLY KEEPS. 

"I the Lord do keep it ; I will water it every moment ; 
lest any hurt it, I will keep it night and day" (Isa. xxvii, 
3). 

Adown the west the sun now glides, 

Behind the hills his glory hides ; 

And we must turn our steps away 

To greet the dawn of a coming day. 

A day of toil, perchance, and pain. 
But bravely borne in Jesus' name ; 
We'll look for the dawn of the glorious day 
When God shall wipe all tears away. 

Some morn we'll greet our coming Lord — 
Sweet, precious promise of his word ! 
Till then, farewell ; again we'll meet, 
And lay our sheaves at Jesus' feet. 

The Lord go with thee, this I pray, 
And sweetly keep thee all the way ; 
In darkness drear, or glorious light — 
It matters not, his way is right. 

His angels watch shall ever keep. 
In busy day or deepest sleep. 
He knows thou'rt weak; in him abide: 
He'll keep his own whate'er betide. 

Keep sweet, my child, in him is peace; 
Fret not thy heart, from worry cease ; 
In patience wait, the price is paid : 
Thy victory's sure through Jesus' aid. 

Each moment watered from above, 
We'll fruitful be, and filled with love; 
The Lord shall keep thee, sweetly keep : 
Night and day he guards his sheep. 



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